Broken Wings
by Crystal Dawn
Summary: Momoko has been chosen as a tribute to the demon race. Can Viento keep up with her before she's hurt... or worse? AU, darkfic, violence - Chapter 5 up!
1. Let Us Raise the Curtains

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to numerous Japanese publishing entities, such as Sukehiro Tomita, Nao Yazawa, Tenyu, and Shogakukun. You'll notice how none of those are me. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.  
**Warnings:** Alt universe, het (Viento/Peach), dark, ANGST, violence, gore, character death (implied, non-graphic), bondage

These characters belong to numerous Japanese publishing entities, such as Sukehiro Tomita, Nao Yazawa, Tenyu, and Shogakukun. You'll notice how none of those are me. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.Alt universe, het (Viento/Peach), dark, ANGST, violence, gore, character death (implied, non-graphic), bondage 

Broken Wings: Chapter One

Let Us Raise the Curtains

By Crystal Dawn Phoenix

Silvery pink waist-length hair fluttered about her face as she looked down. Past her sandaled feet and the crumbling balustrade, if she looked far enough down, she could see the world of the humans. As badly fallen into disrepair as the Angelic World had become, nothing could compare to the Earth. Part of her wanted to take comfort in that fact; the other part pitied those who lived there now, those that she could do nothing to help.

Long ago, she had also lived in the human world. It was her husband's homeland, and also the birthplace of her only daughter. Three years ago, though, she had been awakened by that horrible battle. She had returned valiantly, only to see that her husband had been slain and to face retreat with her daughter. At least she had saved her, but still...

Poor Shouichirou.

A small tear traveled down her cheek as she continued scanning the overcast path from the human world to the angelic one. It was so close to that time, and they still hadn't chosen.

Of course she had known what today was. They'd been going through this for three years now. This happened every June 21st. It still didn't make it any less painful or humiliating, though. And as always, Celeste couldn't help but worry - what if it was her daughter that was chosen this time?

Celeste brushed the hair from her eyes and turned to go inside, her worn white robes moving a bit in the breeze. Even if it was painful, even if it was wrong, she had to do this. She alone had to be responsible; there was no one else now. Her older sister Aphrodite had been killed in the siege, and Celeste had long ago given up any hope of finding her sister's lost adviser and warrior, Limone.

What would they say, she wondered, if they could see the state of things now? The human world was hell on Earth, and the Angelic World was fast falling in that direction. The remaining angels had managed to eke out their survival in the remnants of their homeland, but even that was slowly being eroded. Daily the remaining native love waves slowly dissipated, as did the flowers and plants that fed them and the borders of their granted 'territory'. Celeste surely ruled as a queen within these boundaries, but what good did that do when the kingdom was in ruins?

With a leaden heart, Celeste laid her hands onto the heavy wooden doors of the balcony. As they separated, a beam of light hit her eyes, almost dazzling her. The effect only lasted a moment, until she had opened the doors wider and stepped into the large hall contained therein.

Usually, the hall which had formerly been Aphrodite's throne room was empty. Today, however, since it was the largest safe place to gather, every remaining angel sat in assembly around the room. This is not to say there was any small number of them; the surviving forces numbered at least two hundred or more. Whereas usually they'd be talking calmly and happily amongst themselves, today's assembly was quite solemn, the only conversations taking place being carried on in hushed tones.

Immediately, as she walked forward, Celeste spotted her daughter and her friends sitting near the front. Naturally, her child was the one in the middle with deep pink, nearly red hair. Of the two that flanked her, one had long auburn hair; the other had blondish-green hair, bobbed short. These three seemed to be carrying on what looked like a normal conversation, albeit a bit more apprehensively than usual. Sitting to the side of the group was a girl that Celeste recognized as one of the friends the trio had made since the fall of the Angelic World three years ago. This girl had deep red hair and a disinterested, serious look.

"Oh, man," the green-haired one, Hinagiku sighed quietly, "I think the thing I miss most is the food. If I got to go back to Earth, even for just a day, I'd stuff myself!" The brunette sitting on the opposite side of the pink-haired girl smiled a little.

"I think I miss the boys more," the brunette, Yuri, responded, "I wish I could see Yanagiba-sempai just one more time. I could confess to him my feelings." Hinagiku broke into a grin in spite of the seriousness of the situation.

"Not if I could get to him first!" she replied, happy at the reminiscence, "But that reminds me what else I miss - sports! Judo and track and soccer!" The one in the middle finally spoke up at this.

"Soccer!" the pink-haired girl, Momoko, responded, not a little excitement in her hushed voice, "That and working on the school newspaper! They went hand-in-hand! I miss them all!"

"Momoko-chama!" a small, excited voice spoke up from its place on Momoko's lap, "I miss the food, too, pii!" The voice belonged to a small, round, yellow thing that resembled nothing more sinister than a fluffy cat. In truth, however, Jama-P had been an Ojama, a small demon, until he met Momoko. She had reformed him not long before the Angelic World fell three years ago.

Finally, the redhead dignified them with a glance. "Quieten down," Scarlet intoned strictly, "This isn't the time or place to be getting carried away. You could upset those around us." The other three reddened and seemed to shrink.

"Sorry," Momoko whispered, abashed.

Celeste spared them another sad, affectionate glance as she stepped before the assembled angels. An apprehensive hush fell over the entire hall as their de facto leader stood before them to speak. She, too, was now flanked by an angel on either side. The blonde angel on the right held a staff and a scroll. The brunette on the left, however, held something much more sinister - a gilded gold and ivory box. The box itself did not appear particularly horrible; it was what it held inside that caused every angel in the room such dread. While the sides were jeweled and polished, it was the top that stood out the most. In the top of the box was a hole, cut just large enough for a hand to fit inside.

"You all know why we've gathered here today," Celeste began solemnly, "I trust I no longer need to give any instructions to anyone in this room. Instead, we shall begin immediately the call and finish this as soon as is possible." The entire room seemed to nod as one in silent agreement.

The angel on the right unfurled her scroll and quietly cleared her throat. "Alexi", the caller announced, her voice carrying across the well-lit hall.

Near the back, a tall, white-haired angel stood, his straight hair hanging around his shoulders. Alexi moved between the other angels to reach the main walkway between the two halves of the assembly hall. Purposefully, bravely, he walked forward until he reached the focus of the room's attention - the ivory and gold box. His right hand slowly reached into the hole cut out of the top of the box and then out again. In his hand was a slip of folded paper.

Without unfolding the paper, Alexi made his way back toward the back of the room, to his original seat. Before he was seated again, the caller announced her next name.

"Ariel." "Begonia." "Calla." "Camellia." "Celeste."

As her name was called, Celeste turned to her left and drew a slip of paper as well. It was only fair. A few names later, though, another name familiar to Celeste was called.

"Daisy." The group of four girls started a bit as the green-haired one smiled faintly and rubbed her head.

"I guess it's my turn," she said sheepishly as she stood. Hinagiku walked forward, putting on her bravest face. She, too, drew and then moved back to her seat.

"Dahlia." "Dendrobium." "Diana." "Eros." The name call droned on, the girls almost forgetting to listen until the next name they were intimately familiar with was called.

"Lily." Yuri stood silently and began to walk forward with her chin held high. Even in their terrible state of affairs, she still strove to have as much grace and dignity as possible. Her paper was drawn, then she was also seated again.

Momoko chewed her thumbnail as "Lotus", "Magnolia", "Margarette", "Niciel", and "Orchid" were each called in their turn.

"Peach," the caller finally said, causing Momoko to start a little. Feeling a bit weak in the knees, Momoko rose and began to numbly walk forward. As she reached the box, she gave her mother a pleading, frightened look. Celeste reciprocated with a supportive, if somewhat sad smile. Her courage renewed, Momoko thrust her hand into the box, squeezed her eyes shut, and pulled out a slip of paper. Keeping it tightly shut, she walked back to her place between Hinagiku and Yuri and sat back down.

"Peony." "Primrose." "Ramiel." "Raphael." "Rose." The names droned on and on, forming a broken string of almost unintelligible syllables. The excitement in the room made it hard to listen for anything other than one's own name. "Salvia" was finally called. The redhead rose and moved forward, her face betraying nothing. She performed her accorded task and then reclaimed her seat.

The silent apprehension that filled the room was almost an electrical current by the time the angel Zephyr took the final piece of paper from the box. Celeste looked out upon the sea of faces, all of them nervous and expectant. She set her mouth into a firm line and brought her paper into readable distance.

"Now," she said softly, the quiet determination showing through her voice, "All as one, we will open these slips." At this cue, the room filled with the sound of papers being opened. Almost immediately, a collective sigh of relief went up. Celeste also looked down at her paper; a blank sheet this year again.

In the crowd, Hinagiku exhaled audibly, her nervousness evaporating with her breath. Looking across Momoko to Yuri, the look of relief on the brunette's face told her that she, too, had been given a blank paper. Scarlet simply looked at her paper, shrugged, and placed it face-up on the floor; blank as well.

"Guess we won't be having crêpes again anytime soon, huh, Yuri?" Hinagiku said, wiping a few beads of sweat from her brow.

Yuri smiled faintly, a small, nervous giggle escaping her lips. "No, I guess not," she replied shakily, "Thank goodness."

"Momoko-chama?" Jama-P asked hesitantly, looking up at his mistress. Momoko hadn't said a word since opening her paper, nor had she moved. Jama-P wasn't even sure she'd blinked in the past minute or so. He tugged on the sleeve of her simple white robe, failing utterly to get her attention. After another second or so, Hinagiku and Yuri also noticed that Momoko was unusually still.

"Right, Momoko?" Hinagiku asked expectantly, nudging her friend with her elbow. "No human food for us! Right?" Momoko finally looked over at her friend, her eyes lost and afraid. "No way," Hinagiku whispered, looking at Momoko's hand.

She was holding a white slip of paper, freshly unfolded, with a red 'X' in the center.

Celeste scanned the crowd, looking for the recipient of the marked paper. The angels she saw, however, were chatting quietly and respectfully. They were all relieved, although there was still a thin haze of tension in the air as the crowd waited to see who had been picked. Finally, reluctantly, she found Momoko and the others.

She watched, her heart sinking, as Yuri and Hinagiku spoke with each other across Momoko, both of them clearly in distress. Momoko herself stared at her mother, her eyes pleading for salvation. Celeste could feel her heart tightening painfully within her chest.

Scarlet remained quiet, staring meaningfully at Momoko's hand. Her dark violet eyes flashed up to meet Celeste's for a second before she lashed out and grabbed Momoko's hand. Before any of the other girls could do anything other than exclaim their surprise, Scarlet had stood, holding the red-marked paper above her head.

"I drew the mark," Scarlet said, projecting her voice across the room. The other angels immediately fell silent. Celeste looked sadly at her. What she was doing was painfully obvious, but her face was set and determined. Stepping forward, she began walking towards the defiant angel and her three friends.

"Scarlet, don't..." Momoko pleaded quietly as she and the other two stood with her. Scarlet threw a cutting glance towards her.

"Quiet, fool," Scarlet hissed before locking her eyes on Celeste's approaching form again.

Celeste stepped before Scarlet, covering the younger woman's hand with her own and bringing it down to chest-level. She removed the red-marked paper from Scarlet's hand, looking at it ruefully.

"Oh, Salvia," Celeste said, shaking her head slowly, "Please don't lie to me." Scarlet's face faltered; she looked stricken. She turned to look at the floor, shame painting her face.

"But... you can't," Salvia said quietly, "You can't send Momoko. She's... She's your daughter!" She turned once again to Celeste, her voice gaining in strength as she finished her sentence. Her eyes flashed with quiet rage.

"I agree with Scarlet," Yuri said, stepping forward and in front of Momoko, "This is wrong, Celeste-sama. I would gladly go in Momoko's stead." Hinagiku nodded firmly.

"Any of us would go in her place," Hinagiku said, "Send one of us instead." Celeste looked from one to the other, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

"Momoko?" she asked, causing her daughter to look up at her again, "Can you chose one of your friends to take your place? Would you send one of these three to Earth for your own sake?" Momoko shut her eyes, tears finally streaming down her face, and shook her head.

"I don't want that," she said, wiping uselessly at the tears, "I don't want anyone to get hurt for my sake." She squeezed Jama-P a little tighter to her chest.

"Momoko-chama," Jama-P whispered, wiping at the tears that had gathered in the corners of his own eyes.

"What are you saying!" Yuri said, her voice growing frantic as she grabbed Momoko's shoulder.

"D-Don't be stupid, Momoko!" Hinagiku exclaimed, "We'd be glad to go for you!" Momoko shook her head fiercely, her hand wiping at the wetness on her face.

Finally, Celeste stepped forward, wrapping her arms around her daughter and drawing her into a tight embrace. She smoothed Momoko's hair down as she buried her face in her mother's shoulder and cried.

"This is why we draw the way we do," Celeste said softly, "It's painful, but it's fair. I couldn't ask one of you to go in Momoko's place. I couldn't ask anyone in this room to go in her place. Everyone who is eligible must draw, and anyone who draws could go. I can't grant favors like that, not even for my daughter. This must be fair."

"It's... it's too awful," Yuri said softly before throwing her arms around Momoko's back. Hinagiku also leaned in to embrace her friend as Scarlet laid a solemn hand on Momoko's shoulder.

"How can you be so cold?" Hinagiku whispered, pained, as she also started to cry.

Celeste closed her eyes. She could only hope that one day these girls could understand. Leaders sometimes had to make sacrifices for the good of everyone concerned. Even if she hadn't been the one left leading the remaining Angels, she would still have had to lose her daughter today. It wasn't that she didn't want to keep Momoko with her; it was that she knew that if no one was sent today, the consequences would be far worse for all involved. Still, none of those rationalizations were going to make the pain go away.

"She'll make it," Celeste said firmly, "I have faith that Momoko will come back."

* * *


	2. The Devils' Plaything

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to numerous Japanese publishing entities, such as Sukehiro Tomita, Nao Yazawa, Tenyu, and Shogakukun. You'll notice how none of those are me. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.

**Author's Note:** ADV (and several other sources) list the second major villain's name in the TV series as "Sandra". The manga, however, has it written as "Thundora". Since there's no "thu/tha" sound in Japanese, "sa" is usually used as a substitute, so technically both would be correct. I chose to use "Thundora" here, as it actually makes sense in context. Eh, he's only got one line, anyway.

**Warnings:** Alt universe, het (Viento/Peach), dark, ANGST, violence, gore, character death (implied, non-graphic), bondage

Broken Wings: Chapter Two

The Devils' Plaything

By Crystal Dawn Phoenix

After all was said and done, there was a bit of a last-minute bustle to get Momoko ready for her impending trip. Celeste had procrastinated so long in choosing that there wasn't much time left between the drawing and the departure. All there was really time for was for Momoko to get dressed and to throw together what she'd need for her stay. Even that turned into an escapade, each of her friends losing her bearing in turn and making a general mess of things.

As it was, Momoko stood now in the court situated before Aphrodite's palace. The wind had picked up considerably over the course of the day, and now, near sunset, it whipped her gown around her ankles and her hair and veil around her eyes. As she scanned the darkening grey skies with her mother and friends, she wished she could bring herself to fidget - to bite her nails or play with her hair or anything, just to take some of the pressure away. All she could manage to do, however, was to clutch the bouquet tighter still in her hands. They would be here soon. He would be here soon. Momoko felt like she wanted to sit down.

Suddenly, for quite possibly the first time, she felt very self-conscious about her dress. She found herself wishing for the plain white robes she'd packed into her yellow overnight bag, for anything that would make her less conspicuous. However, part of the agreement was that the chosen angel would be sent down in whatever their finest clothing was. For Momoko, this fine clothing just happened to be her Love Angel bridal gown.

Why this was part of the strange agreement in the first place had always puzzled the other angels. There were a couple of other questions that no one knew the answer to, as well. For instance, why didn't the demons simply kill all of them in the first place? And why did they only want to take one of their number every year? These things simply made no sense to Momoko; all she knew was that to defy their 'treaty' was to risk certain death for herself and the other angels. And this made her even more nervous - was it possible that she could mess this up?

A sudden flash of lightening and peel of thunder broke Momoko's reverie. The wind gained speed and intensity as she and her friends stared ahead, transfixed. Suddenly, a man was standing before them, where only a second ago there had been no one.

Momoko knew this man - this demon. She recognized the embroidered blue jacket, the shaggy green hair, the piercing blue eyes. He hadn't changed since she'd last seen him, at this same time the year before.

"Pluie," Hinagiku spat under her breath. Even in subjugation, she couldn't disguise her loathing for their old enemy.

The demon in question glanced at her, smiling the smile that only those in complete control of a situation can understand. He presently returned his attention to the party's representative.

"Pluie-sama," Celeste said softly, her right hand covering her heart as she bowed her head, eyes falling shut. For as polite as Celeste was bound by decree to be to the demon, the three girls surrounding her and Momoko were just as disrespectful in their countenances. Each glared daggers at him, not bothering to hide their disgust.

Far from angering or intimidating the green-haired demon, however, all the Love Angels' angry stares served to do was embolden him. He regarded Celeste with a patronizing smirk before turning to her daughter.

"Good evening, Celeste," Pluie said, "I see you've chosen this year's... ambassador." Hinagiku gritted her teeth; Pluie knew damned good and well that what Momoko was going to be was no 'ambassador'. She leaned forward a second before Yuri placed a firm hand on her wrist. Any misbehavior now could end in disaster.

"Yes," Celeste replied simply, raising her head again to meet Pluie's eyes. Pluie's smile became absolutely predatory.

"And if it isn't Wedding Peach," he continued, his voice clearly mocking the angels before him, "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Momoko gave him a stand-offish look, hoping he maintained his distance. Why couldn't they have sent a different demon this year at least?

As Pluie reached lazily for Momoko, Celeste stepped between them, eyes suddenly alive and challenging.

"After a year," Celeste said firmly, "She can come back. Those are the terms of our agreement, are they not?"

"Of course," Pluie replied, his tone dripping condescension, "If she survives, we'll send her back in exchange for next year's angel." Celeste seemed to relax only a little. "Now if you're done being rebellious," Pluie continued, a bit of a sneer creeping into his voice, "You can say your goodbyes. We've got to be on our way."

Celeste turned to her daughter. There was so much she wanted to say to her, so much she just didn't have time for. Instead, she took the girl into her arms and rested her head upon her shoulder.

"Stay strong," she whispered, "And come back to us. If anyone can do it, it's you." Unable to contain themselves, Yuri, Hinagiku, and Scarlet each threw their arms around their smaller friend.

"Don't let them beat you," Hinagiku said, shutting her eyes against the tears.

"We'll pray for you," Yuri added, almost choking on tears of her own.

"If you die, I'll never forgive you," Scarlet offered, her voice stern.

"Mama," Momoko said softly, "Everyone. I love you all. Wait for me?" The other four women nodded solemnly at her.

"Now that that's over with," Pluie spoke up, his countenance quite disinterested, "I believe it's time to go." The group looked up at him, their attention diverted from the tearful farewell.

Suddenly, Momoko felt something cold and heavy settle around her neck. It was tight, but not constrictingly so, and as she looked down, she could see a black leash leading from her to Pluie's hand. Her eyes widened in fear as one hand shot up to investigate what she determined to be a collar circling her throat.

"Come along now, little Love Angel," he sneered, his obvious contempt seeping through his voice. Momoko gasped as she was jerked forward by a firm tug of Pluie's hand. As she broke away from the cluster of her mother and friends, she could feel thick, wet clouds sweeping up around her feet. Straining her ensnared neck to turn back to catch a last glimpse of them, Momoko saw the Angelic World obscured from her vision by the billowing, dark clouds.

Celeste watched, unmoving, as her daughter vanished from sight into the cloud bank. As soon as she could no longer see the girl's figure through the thick veil of mist, however, she finally allowed the oppressive weight of the entire situation to settle on her. It hammered her to her knees as she covered her face with her hands and began to cry. The three young women surrounding her knelt beside her, each leaning in to comfort her with their embrace.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere, the clouds obscuring Momoko's vision cleared, revealing to her what seemed to be an endless, darkening, overcast sky. She looked down to see cobblestones enshrouded in mist beneath her feet. An unending fog seemed to be rolling in from somewhere indeterminate, covering almost completely what appeared to be the bridge that Pluie and Momoko were standing on. At least she thought it was a bridge; there were inornate stone railings on either side, but past that there was nothing but an expanse of thick grey cloud.

Momoko looked ahead to the demon holding the black lead as he walked confidently through the fog. "What is this place?" she asked, more than a little nervous. Pluie didn't bother looking back.

"It is only a corridor between the Angelic World and the Human Plane," he answered simply, "And... who told you you could speak?" Momoko felt the lead tighten painfully around her neck as she was dragged forward half a pace. She... wasn't allowed to speak? Momoko thought she caught a glimpse of an awful smirk on Pluie's face. Was he only acting like this because he hated her? Was this part of what they planned on doing with her?

She looked forward through the fog, the greys and charcoals and nearly-blacks, while the worst feeling of loneliness and despair overtook her senses. The reality had finally settled on her; it was all over. The overwhelming possibility was that her life would end in the demons' custody. There was going to be nothing else for her; she'd never fall in love, have a family of her own, be kissed, or even get married. All things considered, she found that to be the biggest and cruelest irony; an angel named Wedding Peach was never going to get married. And almost as if to confirm everything she'd just thought, she could feel Pluie's hatred as a small buzzing in the back of her mind. Was it this place, or was it him?

Momoko walked forward robotically, trying not to feel the hopelessness that had begun to surround her. Before she knew it, the cobblestones beneath her feet had turned to concrete, the dark, foggy bridge having given way to a dark, humid alleyway. Was this the Earth now?

The first thing she noticed was the heat. Momoko knew that it was the first official day of summer, but it still felt too hot to her - especially since the sun had already set. The air seemed thick, too, almost like breathing water. It seemed to settle on her skin, crawling inside her lungs and making her gasp for her first few breaths of air.

There was nothing to see in the alley they'd appeared in yet, though; it was all dark, except for the burning orange light at the end. As they walked toward it, Momoko wondered if it was perhaps the light from streetlights. Did they still have streetlights? Electricity? Drawing closer to the exit of the alley, it seemed as though the light was too bright to have been made by simple electric lamps. There was also a noise from the end of the alley, like a dull roar or a waterfall that grew louder as they moved forward.

As they emerged from the shelter of the darkened alley, the heat, light, and noise hit Momoko full-force. Gasping, she shielded her eyes from the bright orange bonfires that burned on either side of the thoroughfare they'd come out upon. People (were they humans or demons? Momoko couldn't tell) lined the wide road they'd stepped onto, yelling and beating on the drums containing the tall, roaring fires. They blurred together, forming an unintelligible mass of angry noise and violent motion, making Momoko's head almost spin.

Pluie led a reluctant Momoko toward the middle of the road. Off in the distance down the road to her left, Momoko could see a large, imposing building, shaped something like a large compound surrounding an ornate church. Much like the street she and Pluie were now walking on, it was lit by fires, the contrast between the brightness of the fire and the deepness of its shadows making it look even more ominous. It also struck her as being very familiar for some reason, but she wasn't sure exactly why. Naturally, that was the direction that Pluie decided to lead her in.

"They're all here for you, you know," Pluie said abruptly, strangely audible above the den of the frenetic crowd that had surrounded them as they made their way down the street. Or rather, had surrounded Momoko; the on-lookers seemed to be getting closer to her, but Pluie was strangely left to walk unhindered.

"What do you mean?" she asked, unable to contain the question. This time, Pluie didn't seem to mind. He even smirked a bit.

"They come out like this every year," Pluie replied. Momoko suddenly found the calm and clear tone of his voice to be very unsettling. "They want to see the angel pass through," he continued with a bit of a sneer, "And to thank her for her 'help' in the previous year." Momoko's eyes shot open as she realized what he was talking about.

"But we're on their side!" she cried, the reason for the crowd's angry demeanor dawning on her at last, "We tried to save them! Why would they hate us?" As she took another step forward to follow Pluie, though, Momoko felt her dress snag on something from behind. Looking back, she saw that one of the people from the crowd had planted his foot on the hem of her pink petticoat, pinning it to the ground. As Pluie continued to drag her forward, the man's foot didn't move. The momentary tug-of-war almost caused Momoko to stumble, but the dress gave way before her knees did and she continued to move with Pluie. The throng surrounding her seemed to grow louder and more raucous as they realized that they'd succeeded in ripping her gown.

"Their lives are miserable," Pluie said, not a little bit of amusement in his tone, "They have to hate someone. Better it be those who failed to save them than those they serve." Momoko wanted to protest and tell him that humans weren't really like that, that they knew better, but before she had the chance, she felt a hand clawing at her right sleeve. It cut through the thin satin sleeve and Momoko was certain that it had pierced her skin (was that person holding a knife?). She let out a startled yelp only a second before Pluie continued on, taking her with him.

Momoko looked down the long road before her at what she was certain was her goal - the imposing "palace" far down at the end of the road. It seemed to actually shimmer in the distance because of the heat. Or perhaps it was because Momoko herself was feeling a little more dizzy now, she wasn't sure.

Again, she felt another hand grab at her, this one ripping the bow from her chest. Squealing, Momoko clutched at her neckline, unwilling to let it be pulled off as well. And since it was now an easy target, another hand pulled the bouquet away from her. Momoko reached futilely for it as it hit the ground and was trampled underfoot by the frothing crowd. As she looked over them, however, her eyes hit upon a far-off sidewalk to the side of the road. There, she was surprised to see a figure in a long, blue coat and hat, calmly watching the entire affair. Before she could wonder about it, however, Pluie pulled her farther forward.

All the way to the gates of the imposing compound, the crowd besieged Momoko. They tore, tripped, snatched, ripped, and raged at her, more than once bringing her to the verge of tears. The heels on both of her shoes had snapped, causing her to discard them halfway there. She'd walked the rest of the way barefoot, the dirty streets digging into her feet; she was certain that they, too, were bleeding now.

The rest of her outfit wasn't doing much better; her dress was in tatters, covering barely more than her plain white robes did now. Somehow, she'd managed to keep her tiara on her head, but her veil had definitely seen better days. Scratches and cuts had found themselves all along the length of Momoko's arms and legs where the crowd had torn her dress.

As they neared what appeared to Momoko to be a palace, though, the crowd had dispersed. She got the impression that they were too afraid of the building to even approach it. She almost found herself glad to be in the shadow of such a scary place if it meant that crowd would leave her alone. As Pluie went about opening the gates, Momoko looked hazily up at the grounds beyond, clutching her overnight bag to her chest. A shock of recognition ran through her. Yes, this place was very familiar indeed.

They were standing at the gates of Saint Hanazono campus.

Momoko stared ahead, too stunned and dizzy to do much else. Her eyes followed the starkly lit pathway of torches up to what she remembered as being the school's gymnasium - was she being taken there? The other parts of the campus that she could see seemed to be in total disrepair (or perhaps they'd been trashed on purpose?). A couple of walls in her line of sight were beginning to crumble and there wasn't a living plant or tree in sight. She could barely see the church in any detail, but it also seemed to have suffered the same fate; she could tell at least that the beautiful stained glass windows she remembered had been broken out. Had they desecrated the entire campus?

Before she had a chance to take in any more, the lead began to dig into Momoko's neck once again as Pluie led her forward. As they walked along the harshly lit path toward the gym, she wondered nervously what was going to happen to her. She also couldn't help but wonder exactly why the Demons had chosen this school, of all places, to set up their command center; it just didn't make any sense.

What was worse, Momoko could swear she was seeing small shadows moving out of the corner of her eye. No, that wasn't quite right - she knew she was seeing something moving in the shadows. The torchlight was reflecting in their small, narrow eyes. Worse yet, she realized she could hear hissing. For once, she hoped they could hurry to whatever fate it was that awaited her; just about anything would be safer than the trip there.

Finally, after holding her breath for what felt like several minutes, they reached the large double doors of the gymnasium. Momoko watched, half terrified, half curious, while Pluie pushed the doors open. The smell of smoke and burning fuel wafted out of the open doors, causing Momoko's eyes to water. There was no time to focus on the discomfort, though, as Pluie pulled her through into the large building.

As Momoko's eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she realized that the room barely resembled the gymnasium she remembered. The only thing that was like she remembered it was the hardwood floor, and even that was chipped and dull. Other than that, a darkness seemed to linger about the edges of the room, making it seem to go on forever. At the end of the room opposite her, she could make out the figures of five or six people (demons?) sitting at a long table draped in a dark cloth.

Worst of all, though, was the atmosphere of the room; in addition to the fumes from the dim torches that stood along the edges of the room, there was something more oppressive in here than out in the street. It wasn't exactly heat, though, it was closer to a palpable feeling of nervousness, of pure fear. She was no doubt in the presence of a host of very powerful demons. Were they here just to greet her? The feeling of dizziness crested like a wave, washing over Momoko as she looked toward the panel that was currently staring her down.

In the weak light, Momoko thought she could make out the figures of two women; one she thought might be Aquelda, Pluie's old accomplice. The other, a woman with pale purple hair, was one she had never seen before, but she thought that the other woman looked quite interested in her. Neither did she recognize anyone else at the table; as she looked from end to end, her head swam again. She could see a red headed man regarding her with disinterest at one place at the table. Another, a man with either blue or green hair - she couldn't tell quite which in this light - seemed attentive, but not at all friendly. The last one (she thought, anyway - it was getting hard to keep count) was another man, this one with large shoulder guards and disheveled brown hair; the pointed stare he'd fixed her with made her more than a little nervous. Almost reflexively, Momoko's arms wandered up to shield her body from their stares; why did they have to look at her like that when she looked so ridiculous?

The doors clicked shut behind Momoko. It seemed like the air in the room had stopped escaping through them and was now building up, growing heavier around her, weighing her down. Could it be the demons' power? Was their hatred that tangible? Suddenly, Momoko felt a hand on her back, pushing her forward and down. With a startled gasp, she fell to her knees, feeling them rub painfully against the wooden floor. Looking back, she could see Pluie glowering over her.

"Show some respect," he sneered, "From now on, you're always to be on your knees when entering the presence of your betters." Momoko stared up at him, unsure of how, or even if, she should respond. Another second went by and his hand fixed upon the top of her head, pushing it down towards the floor. Momoko steadied herself against the floor with her hands to keep from slamming into it face-first. "You're also never to stare at your betters," he continued, punctuating the words harshly, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes," she answered, trying to make her voice as audible as possible. Why was he doing this? Momoko was beginning to feel nauseous as well as confused.

"'Yes' what?" Pluie hissed. Momoko searched her mind frantically, trying to find the correct answer.

"I... I don't know!" she said, unable to come up with anything in her panicked state. Pluie's hand clenched shut, pulling Momoko's hair, the pins from her tiara digging painfully into her scalp. She was too frightened and dizzy to do anything more than wince and close her eyes.

"'Yes, Pluie-sama'," he dictated, "You will always address your betters with the utmost respect. Is this clear?"

"Yes, Pluie-sama," Momoko managed to choke out. Thankfully, he released her hair for giving the correct answer. Momoko opened her eyes again, focusing intently on the floor, as her hands wandered up to her tender scalp.

Pluie stood upright beside Momoko again, turning toward the front of the room. A crackling noise that reminded Momoko of electricity resounded from the direction of the table. Then the room was dead silent. A wave of heaviness hit her as though whatever had just appeared was carrying it with them, making it yet more difficult to breathe. Momoko chanced a quick glance up; what she saw made her suck her breath in with a gasp.

Behind the table at the far end of the room, the transparent image of a woman, obviously another demon, had appeared. This one, though, was far more imposing than the rest of those gathered in the room - she was almost larger than life. Her alabaster skin stood out against the darkness, the golden crown of thorny spires on her head framing her round face. Obsidian hair spilled over her shoulders and cloak, tied loosely at the ends on either side. She looked down at Momoko, making the girl feel suddenly very cold all over. Momoko quickly looked toward the floor lest Pluie accuse her of staring again. Could this be Reine Devilla?

As if to answer her question, she heard a rustle of fabric beside her as Pluie placed his right hand over his chest and bowed. "Reine Devilla-sama," he said calmly, returning to his normal posture, "I present to you this year's Midsummer offering from the Angel World, Wedding Peach." There was a tone of satisfaction to his voice that made Momoko even more nervous. What kind of 'offering' was he talking about? She couldn't help but think that it sounded like they were going to eat her.

"Ohh?" the Queen responded, her voice as cutting as a cold knife, "Splendid. I shall enjoy watching this. You've done well this year, Pluie. You are to be commended."

"Thank you, my Queen," he replied. It barely registered with Momoko when Pluie walked past her toward the table. When she realized that was what he was doing, though, she dared to sneak a glance after him. He seated himself between Aquelda and the demon with brown hair that she'd noticed before. Momoko also noted with some dismay that he was still staring at her before she returned her gaze to the floor.

"Wedding Peach!" the imposing woman across the room boomed at Momoko. Startled, she looked up. As soon as she did, she regretted doing so, as another wave of dizziness hit her. She reeled for a second before gathering her bearings enough to respond.

"Y-yes, Reine Devilla-sama," she answered, not sure whether to look up at the spectral image of the Queen or to look at the floor again. After a few seconds, Pluie's instructions won out and she looked down at the floor beneath her again.

"Do you know why you are here?" the Queen asked, her voice reverberating in Momoko's head, which was actually starting to hurt. Confused, once again, Momoko couldn't think of anything.

"No, Reine Devilla-sama," she said wearily. Everything was starting to feel very fuzzy to her for some reason.

"You are here," the Queen began, "As a tribute from the angel race to their masters. Until next June 21st, you belong to the demon race, to do with as we please." Momoko could feel her heart race. She belonged to them?

"Every demon will be your master," Reine Devilla continued, "From myself down to the lowliest Ojama, you will obey all orders given to you by a demon. Any of us are able to mete out punishment to you if you disobey, or for any reason we see fit, or for no reason at all." Momoko stared, wide-eyed, at the wooden floor. She was going to be a slave to the demon race, probably until she died. The thought ran screaming through her head, almost drowning out the sound of the Queen's voice.

"We will provide you with your own sleeping space and food," the Queen went on, her voice almost becoming one long drone to Momoko, "Which can also be taken away if you misbehave. Our kindness and patience are both quite limited. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Reine Devilla-sama," Momoko responded weakly. She wanted nothing more than to be out of that room at that moment. Even so, she didn't think she could stand and walk out of there under her own power, anyway. The entire room felt like it was swimming around her at the moment, and she had suddenly begun to feel very sleepy.

"Very well," the Queen said as she turned back to the table of demons seated before her. "Decide amongst yourselves who will take the angel to her quarters. Instruct her as to what is expected of her behavior and the consequences for failing to meet those expectations."

"Yes, Reine Devilla-sama," Pluie replied. The apparition smirked at her servants before disappearing in a flicker. Pluie turned back to face Momoko, who was still sitting on her knees, head down, propped forward on her hands.

"Wedding Peach," Pluie called. Momoko opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't find the strength to form the words. Desperate, she looked across the room to see Pluie wearing that awful smirk again. "Feeling tired?" he asked, his tone mocking her.

Momoko tried to focus her eyes on Pluie, but couldn't quite seem to do it. As her vision shifted from side to side, the darkness in the corners of the room seemed to be coming closer to her. After one more vague feeling of dread, the entire room seemed to go black.

There was a rustle of fabric as the pink-haired angel slumped forward to the cold floor, falling over her yellow dufflebag. Across the room, the table of demons regarded her with some amusement. Pluie himself could no longer contain his own amusement, a peel of laughter shaking his body as he leaned back in his chair.

"Love Angel indeed," he said, the laughter barely subsiding as his hand covered his face, "Oh, the mighty Wedding Peach!" He failed to notice the deadly glare he was receiving from the brunette seated to his left.

"She lasted longer than last year's angel," the purple haired woman commented over the laughter, almost innocently, "See?" The red-haired man beside her placed his palms against the table and pushed himself up, standing to leave.

"It's the same damned thing every year," he said caustically, "I don't even know why I have to be here. I'm gone." Not even bothering to push his chair in, he turned to go, flicking his dark cloak behind him and disappearing into the darkness. The purple-haired woman turned as well, rising to follow him.

"Ii-sama!" she cried, disappearing as well, "Don't go without me, see?" Pluie's laughter had finally died and the remaining four demons sat in silence for a moment, waiting for one of their number to speak.

"Ignis is right," the demon at the end of the table with the teal green hair finally spoke, "There's no reason for me to stay, either." Pluie gave a dismissive wave of his hand as this demon vanished as well.

"No, there's not, Thundora," Pluie remarked, "I can ta..." He was interrupted as the brown-haired man beside him rose.

"I'll take her," the brunette said firmly. The tone of his voice left no room for argument, and neither did the look he was giving Pluie. Pluie returned his glare in kind as he left the table and walked toward Peach.

"Oi," Pluie said, the amusement gone from his voice, "Don't let your emotions get the better of you, Half." Although he didn't stop or turn around, Pluie could tell he'd touched a nerve with the darker-haired man. That thought made the edges of his mouth turn up a bit in some semblance of a smirk.

"Ohh?" the brunette sneered as he bent over to pick Peach's lead up off the floor, "Being a full-blooded demon didn't seem to keep Wedding Peach from kicking your ass, did it?" He wrapped the black strap around his hand a few times, leaving only a few centimeters between his hand and Peach's neck. As Pluie fumed across the room from them, he hoisted Peach's still form up over his right shoulder, leaving her to rest with her back pressed against his.

"You..." Pluie growled, presumably too angry to finish his sentence. Not that the brunette particularly cared; he stooped to fetch the yellow dufflebag before heading toward the double doors of the gym.

"Glad you agree," he remarked smugly, tossing a smirk over his shoulder at the older demon, "Later." Before any more barbs could be exchanged, he made a quick exit from the gym.

Once outside, the brunette seemed to relax a bit. He exhaled, almost as if he'd been straining himself the entire time he'd been around the others; to be sure, that was what it felt like. A second later, he remembered the girl draped across his back. Surely that collar was cutting off her air supply with the callous way he'd picked her up. He'd felt bad for doing that to her, but there was no way he could pick her up gently without drawing Pluie's suspicion; hell, maybe he'd already drawn it anyway. He immediately descended the small flight of stairs in front of the gymnasium and let her slide to the pavement behind him.

Turning back to check on her, he was relieved to find that she was still breathing. Her breath was probably a little heavier than it should've been, but that was understandable, all things considered. Scooping the angel up in his arms (he still had trouble thinking of her as an angel - what the hell was going on here, anyway?), he could get a better look at her face.

She looked older and more grown up and maybe a bit thinner, but yes, it was definitely her.

"Momoko..."

* * *


	3. The First Night

Broken Wings: Chapter Three - The First Night

by Crystal Dawn Phoenix

* * *

The luminescent eyes weren't that bothersome. It was the hissing that had begun to get on his nerves.

Ever since he'd stepped out of the gym with Peach (he had to remind himself to think of her as 'Peach' and not 'Momoko' - there was no call for him to know the other name), the glowing eyes had been following them. They'd been accompanied by a low, ubiquetous hissing noise, and he'd grown tired of listening to it. He didn't mind that they wanted to hiss at an angel, but she was with him, damn it all; they could at least have enough respect not to hiss at him.

"Silence!" he finally yelled, coming to a halt. He looked toward the darkness at the edge of the torch-lit path, littered with dead tree limbs and debris. The hisses fell silent as the glittering eyes retreated.

Shaking his shaggy head, the demon continued on across the grounds. The path he was taking led to the main building of what used to be a school. After the invasion, it had been converted to serve as a sort of base for the demon forces; his room was there, as were the rooms of his commerades. Now it was barely recognizable, even from the inside.

As he stepped across the threshold, he realized that when Peach woke up, she probably wouldn't even recognize the old building. Pushing through one of the double doors, he figured that he wouldn't recognize it himself if he hadn't been there for the 'remodeling'. Not that it was too easily recognizable at night, anyway.

The only light inside the long corridors came from the large windows (those that hadn't been broken, anyway) lining the walls. Yellow and orange light poured in from the torches dotting the courtyard outside, giving the hallways a ghostly light. If he hadn't been so certain of where he was going in the first place, he figured he would probably have gotten lost by now.

After a few more turns into some darker hallways without access to the outside light, he finally found the door he was looking for. At one point, it had been the school nurse's office; three years ago, it had been decided that the yearly offering would sleep there. All of the demons knew this was where the angel stayed; most of them avoided the place, but if they had orders to give, those would be left by the door (usually by lower-ranking subordinates) to be picked up first thing in the morning.

The door opened easily. The room itself had a window to an abandoned portion of the campus grounds, flooding the room with pale blue moonlight. Aside from that, the room was fairly clean, even if it did have the musty air of ten months' worth of disuse. There was a nurse's cot beneath the window as well as a standing curtain pushed off to one corner of the room. Beside the door they'd entered through was a counter, sink, and cupboard that at one point had held medicine and first aid items; now there was no telling what was inside it (and honestly, he had no desire to find out). Other little odds and ends were scattered throughout the room in what passed for decoration; a small table with a lamp, a wastebasket, a tall metal cabinet used for holding linens.

The brunette stepped toward the cot, the moonlight reflecting off Peach's tiara as they moved. He stooped, laying her out on the flat surface, careful not to jostle her or injure her further. A second later, and he'd slipped the yellow overnight bag off his shoulder and placed it in the floor. Then, reaching down to her neck, he undid the latch attaching the leash to its collar; it would be unwise to let her sleep with the lead loose like that.

Not moving from his place before the cot, the demon snapped his fingers, lighting the small glass lamp behind him on the table. The light from that lamp illuminated a few more of its kind throughout the room; there was a lamp on the counter beside the sink, one on a small table at the head of the cot, and another on a table further back toward the standing curtain. Each of these were lit in turn in the same manner. By the time he was done, the room was illuminated to the point that it could've passed for electric lighting.

The flickering light washed over Peach, detailing her features and causing a small smile to creep across his face. Yes, it was definitely the same girl. She was the one who, in his last memories as a normal human, had smiled and shown off the ring he'd bought her. He reached over, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

As his thumb grazed her forehead, it occurred to him that if he wanted, he could simply bend over and kiss her. Actually, now that he had thought about it, he could pretty much do whatever he wanted with her. His cheeks grew hot, and it almost felt for a second like his heart had stopped. What the hell was he doing thinking things like that, anyway?

As he stood watching her, he thought for the briefest moment that he saw her eyes flicker. Then it happened again. Yes, she was waking up. Now a more pressing problem presented itself; what exactly was he supposed to do with her when she was awake? He knew what he _had_ to do: he had to give her the rules and her schedule. But that wasn't really the question, was it?

What if, he supposed, she recognized him? The thought made him uneasy; he didn't want her to know he was the same person as before, really. She'd hate him. She'd hate the person he had been, because she'd know it had been a lie, too. He took a step back, irritated at having become nervous.

Worse, now that he thought about it, how was he supposed to introduce himself? "Hey, Momopi, what's up? Yeah, remember me? I'm that guy who used to tease you all the time back in junior high" was definitely out of the question. So was "Bow before your new master, wench," come to think of it. Why were social situations like _this_ never covered in school? (Well, maybe they were in some old samurai or yakuza movies, but still...)

As the demon stood watching her, perplexed, Momoko became vaguely aware of the light that had begun to hit her eyes. Slowly, she blinked a couple of times, her eyes refusing to focus properly. Aside from feeling sort of frustrated at her blurry vision, her mind felt hazy; she remembered - actually, it was more like she instinctively knew - that she was surrounded by demons, but other than that all she was aware of was a nagging headache and a nauseous feeling.

Finally, as her eyes focused, Momoko realized that she was staring up at a strange ceiling. After this registered, though, she had the persistant feeling that someone was watching her. Slowly, not at all sure she'd like what she saw, she closed her eyes and rolled to her left, propping herself up on her elbow before she looked up.

Only a couple of centimeters away from her stood a tall demon with unkempt brown hair and strange blue stripes on his cheeks, his right hand stretched out towards her. His large, pointed shoulder guards and blue mantle only served to make him look larger and more imposing. He had a frighteningly serious look on his face, his hazel eyes narrowed and trained intently on her. It was then that it dawned on Momoko that this was the same demon she'd seen earlier in the dark room - he'd been staring at her then, too!

Momoko felt a chill run up her back. It was finally all too much for her. Quicker than she would've thought she could manage, she sat up, gave a shrill, frightened scream, closed her eyes, and lashed out with her fist. As her hand connected with the demon's jaw, she realized exactly what she was doing. Her eyes snapped open as she gasped in shock and drew her hand back, watching the man reel from the impact.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" he snarled, turning back to glare at her with his hand on his jaw, "I wasn't going to hurt you, dammit!" Oh, she'd done it now. This was it. Momoko drew her knees up to her chest, hoping to hide behind them. She just knew it was all over - she hadn't even lasted a day. She closed her eyes tight, waiting to be struck, or for whatever he was going to do to her now.

Much to Momoko's surprise, though, nothing happened. Maybe he'd gone to get a weapon? After a couple of seconds she cracked an eye open, curious to see what the demon was doing. As it turned out, he was only standing there, casting an annoyed look down at her and rubbing the side of his jaw where she guessed her fist had connected.

"Feh," he spat, folding his arms, "You're lucky you hit like a girl. If that had actually hurt, I'd have been pissed. But since you're such a wuss, that's one." Momoko looked sheepishly up at him. He seemed so different from Pluie that it was confusing; it almost seemed like he was talking to her like a normal (albiet angry) guy.

"One?" she asked, hoping he didn't punish her for speaking, too. Then again, if he was willing to let a punch in the face slide, she was pretty sure that a question wasn't too much to ask.

"Yeah, _one_," he repeated, putting a certain emphasis on the word, "Like a yellow card penalty. Or like 'one, two, three strikes, you're out'. Don't tell me you've never heard of that before." Momoko stared at him; since when did demons know about things like yellow cards and baseball? And since when did they give anyone three chances? Well... if there were demons shaped like soccer balls, she figured anything was possible.

"What happens... if I get three?" she asked, very much not sure she wanted to hear the answer. This question made him smirk, much to Momoko's dismay. Worse, she could feel that ever-present nausea building again.

"You get a penalty, naturally," he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Momoko didn't think it answered her question at all.

Instead of asking him about it, though, she stared at the floor, feeling her stomach roil. It didn't hurt so much as it ached; Momoko thought that this might be what it felt like to get off of a roller coaster after having riden it for an hour straight. As another cramp seized her stomach, she clutched at it with her right hand, bringing her left up to cover her mouth.

"Uh, are you okay?" the demon asked, apparently having noticed that Momoko was in a bit of discomfort. She couldn't help wondering bitterly why he should care, but looked up at him anyway. After taking a deep breath to try and steady her stomach, she attempted an answer.

"I think I'm gonna..." she began. Before she could finish her sentence, however, Momoko's face lost all color as she felt her stomach flip-flop again. The hand clamped back down over her mouth as she realized that whatever she had eaten that day was about to come back up in short order.

Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she quickly scanned the room around her for somewhere, anywhere, that she could safely vomit. The first thing she noticed was the sink set into the counter against a nearby wall, but she really didn't want to have to clean it out afterwards. As she looked at the floor beside the counter, though, another option presented itself to her: a small wastebasket.

As quickly as she could, without jostling the contents of her stomach any more than they already were, Momoko threw her legs over the side of the cot, hit the cold linolium floor, and scrambled toward the wastebasket, biting back as another wave of nausea hit her. Thankfully, she reached the small trash can just in time, dropping to her knees and grabbing it by the sides. As the demon watched, bewildered, Momoko emptied the contents of her stomach into the wastebasket.

After everything that was going to come up had, Momoko sat back on her knees, wiping at her mouth and whimpering. While her stomach no longer really hurt, that sure as heck hadn't felt good. Worse yet, she was alone in a room with a strange demon who'd just watched her throw up. She wasn't sure whether to feel scared or humiliated, or some mixture of the two; in any event, she felt like she was going to cry.

Feeling a bit lightheaded, Momoko stood up, carefully avoiding the demon's quizzical eyes. She padded softly back to the cot before flopping languidly down on it, her eyes barely focusing on the floor again.

"So, what..." the demon said, looking skeptically at her, "You pregnant or something?" Momoko's eyes snapped back into focus as she looked up at him. He had sounded almost irritated, and now she thought he looked the part, too.

"What! No!" she exclaimed, drawing her knees and arms back up to her chest, "I'm a virgin!" She knew that if she wasn't pale as a sheet from being sick, she'd be red down to her toes. This proclamation seemed to ease the demon's aggrivation as the smug smile returned to his face.

"A virgin, huh? Typical angel," he said, almost to himself as he clucked his tongue and looked at her in amusement. Something about the way he said it really irritated Momoko; what business was it of his, anyway?

"What do you mean, 'typical angel'?" she responded angrily, her cheeks unintentionally puffing out. The demon bent down to look her in the eye, reaching over to pat her cheek as he did so.

"What I mean is," he began, smiling a bit too pleasantly for Momoko's taste, "With your attitude, it's no wonder you've never been laid." Oh, that was it. Momoko didn't care whether he was supposed to be her master or not anymore; that was just going too far. Without making a sound, she raised a hand to slap him.

Much to Momoko's chagrin, however, this time her hand didn't connect. Instead, the demon had caught her wrist a couple of centimeters away from the side of his face, and was now regarding her with a fairly frightening stare. Feeling a stab of panic, she tried to jerk her hand away, only to find that his grip wouldn't budge.

"See what I mean?" he said softly, his voice harboring an edge of anger, "That bad attitude will get you in trouble. That's two." Momoko looked away, his gaze beginning to frighten her, as she struggled against the hand that was holding her wrist. She let out an involuntary whimper as his grip tightened; she knew he was telling her to stop struggling.

"It hurts," she said, still trying to pull her wrist free. She thought she heard the sound of a zipper being undone from somewhere farther away in the room, but had no clue where it could have come from. If the demon noticed, he didn't let on as though he had.

"So does being slapped in the face," he returned sharply. Momoko chanced a look at him again, but found that a yellow blur had obscured her vision. From what she could tell, the demon was as surprised as she was. So surprised, actually, that he released her wrist, causing her to jerk it back against her chest and rub it with her other hand to try and soothe the stinging.

"Leave Peach-chama alone-pi!" the yellow blur, now having solidified into Jama-P, said angrily, stretching out his little arms in front of the much larger demon's face. The brunette stared at the little Ojama, puzzled.

"What the hell?" he asked, his anger having apparently dissovled into confusion, "Where did an Ojama come from?" Before anything else could happen, Momoko reached up and grabbed Jama-P, pulling him against her chest and sheilding him with her arms. She didn't know exactly what he was doing here. She did know, however, that any demon might try to kill Jama-P on sight for being a traitor and staying with her and the other angels.

"Please don't hurt him!" she yelled, tears forming in the corners of her eyes again, "I'm sorry! I promise I'll be good from now on, but please don't hurt him! I'll do anything you want!" The brunette rubbed the back of his head, regarding the angel and the little yellow demon with a mixture of confusion and amusement.

"I wasn't planning on it," he replied, his mood having apparently improved markedly, "And you have to do whatever we say, anyway. Remember?" Momoko didn't release her grip on Jama-P as he peered angrily out past her arms at the taller demon. The girl herself still looked wary, though.

"So... You mean you won't tell on him for being here?" she asked, giving him a frightened look. The demon looked as though he still didn't get it.

"Why should I?" he asked, shrugging, "He's just an Ojama. Why should you care, anyway?" Momoko blinked. Could it be possible that he didn't know who Jama-P was? It seemed like every demon they'd met in the past three years knew who he was and what he'd done.

"He's... He's my friend," she said, feeling nearly as confused as the demon looked, "I think he stowed away with me." She looked down at Jama-P, hoping he'd offer an explanation.

"I climbed in your bag-pi, when you were getting packed," he responded, looking up at her, "I'm sorry, Peach-chama, I was worried-pi! I couldn't let you go alone!" Momoko gave him another protective squeeze as she looked back over toward the bewildered demon before them. "I wouldn't have come out yet," Jama-P continued, beginning to sound angry again, "Except that he was trying to be dishonorable with you-pi!"

"Oh, please," the brunette snorted, turning his back on them and folding his arms. As he did, Momoko noticed that Jama-P's expression had changed from one of anger to one of curiousity.

"Hey, wait a-pi minute," he said, his tone turning surprised, as though he'd just remembered something, "That crest is..." The taller demon raised an eyebrow as he turned to look back at the two of them.

"What, this?" he asked, pointing to the gold-trimmed, blue winged butterfly (at least that's what Momoko thought it might be, anyway) set into the front of his shirt, "It's my tribe's emblem." Momoko noticed that Jama-P had begun to look a bit nervous, but failed to understand exactly why. The taller demon, however, turned his eyes skyward. "Che, guess I forgot to introduce myself, huh?" he asked no one in particular.

"I am Viento," he said, giving Momoko and Jama-P a sweeping bow while holding his cape out with one arm, "A warrior of the Rafaal tribe." Momoko couldn't help but think that he wasn't really suited to the whole 'suave villain' thing, if that was what he was going for with that introduction. It actually kind of made her want to laugh, but she figured this wasn't really a good time for that sort of thing.

"So, ahh, Viento-sama..." Momoko repeated slowly, trying to get herself used to using the formal suffixes like Pluie had told her before. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but couldn't find anywhere to start.

"Yeah," he seemed to be saying more to himself than to anyone else, "I guess I'd better stop fooling around with you and go ahead and do what I came to do." Momoko couldn't help but feel a bit nervous at that statement; just exactly what _was_ he there to do, anyway? With the kind of day she'd been having so far, she figured it could be anything.

"Umm, what... exactly are you here for?" she asked haltingly, drawing her knees up again as she squeezed Jama-P a bit. Viento sighed as he looked down and raked his fingers through his unruly hair.

"Jeez, you don't have to act all scared and stuff, you know," he said, "I'm just here to do your orientation." Momoko blinked, relaxing a little, and began to smile sheepishly. She didn't want to tell Viento, but she wasn't exactly sure what an 'orientation' was; still, she figured it couldn't be anything too bad, right? He looked back up at her, quirking an eyebrow. "You... don't know what an orientation is, do you?" he asked flatly. Momoko's smile twitched a bit.

"Of... of course I do!" she said angrily. Okay, so maybe she only had the vaguest clue what the word meant, but that was still no reason for him to act like she was stupid.

"Okay, then," Viento replied, giving her another one of those annoying, know-it-all smirks, "What is it?"

"Well, it's..." she began, her smile turning nervous, "It's like... you know... when you get oriented... to something and... it's new and... and stuff." Eloquent, Momoko realized she wasn't.

"Well, yeah, kinda," Viento replied, causing Momoko to blink and look at him in surprise. "I basically have to give you an introduction to what you're going to be doing here," he said, shrugging, "So do you remember what Reine Devilla-sama said?"

"Not really," Momoko admitted, looking guiltily down at Jama-P, "I was feeling kinda sick." Viento looked again as though he'd just remembered something.

"Ah, that's right," he remarked evenly, "That happens to all the angels that come here." Momoko knew that her face betrayed the fact that she didn't understand what he was talking about. Before she could ask about it, though, he continued.

"I'll get to that part in a minute," he went on, "But first let me tell you what's expected of you." Momoko nodded silently, not taking her eyes off of him. She didn't know why, but somehow she thought that hearing this from him would make it at least bearable - especially as opposed to Pluie.

"Well... I guess to put it simply," he began again, putting a bit of thought into his words, "For the next year, you're the personal slave of every demon here. That means that if one of us tells you to do something, no matter how bad or wrong it is or how much you don't like it, you have to do it. If you don't - well, even if you do, really - we can punish you." Momoko cringed a bit, not liking the sound of that at all. She curled up against her knees again, receiving a worried look from Jama-P.

"So you mean..." she said slowly, trying to put her thoughts into coherent words, "I can't say no to any of you? No matter what you order me to do?" Momoko was vaguely aware that her face was heating up as Viento clucked his tongue at her.

"Not unless you want to get punished," he replied evenly, "Believe me, you don't want to get punished by any of us." Momoko wasn't really focused on that part, though; it was the first part that bothered her. Something about the way it sounded was causing her to conjure up all sorts of frightening thoughts. The fact that they wouldn't let her refuse to do anything made her think that the orders might be worse than the punishments.

"What kinds of things am I going to be ordered to do?" she asked, looking intently at her toes. She really didn't want to hear the answer to this one.

"You know, the usual stuff," Viento answered with a shrug, "Cleaning, laundry, whatever we feel like making you do, basically. It's not about getting work out of you, you know; it's mostly about showing you who's boss and breaking your spirit. That sort of thing." Momoko didn't really take much comfort in that, nor did she look up. She figured she might as well get to the point and just ask him.

"So if you or Pluie or anyone ordered me to, I'd have to... have to..." Momoko stared down in horror, finding that she just couldn't bring herself to say it. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath before finally blurting it out, "I'd have to sleep with you!" If Momoko could've brought herself to look up at him, she might have noticed that Viento had blushed just a bit at that, too.

"Ehh!" he finally said after a moment of startled silence, "Well, I guess _technically_ we could order you to do that, and... and you'd have to, but..." Momoko finally cracked open her eyes and chanced a glance up. The demon before her looked more than a bit unsettled by her question, which she thought was definitely a good thing. At least it sounded like he hadn't thought of it before her. From the way Jama-P was growling under his breath, though, she thought that it may well have occurred to him already.

"But, uhh, I don't really think you have anything to worry about," Viento finally finished his sentence after a pause, his collected demenor returning. Momoko looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" she asked before her face colored a bit again, "Do demons not... you know... do that sort of thing?" She really couldn't believe she was having this conversation, especially with a strange demon. Then again, if someone had asked her yesterday, Momoko would've thought they were crazy to tell her about anything she'd experienced today. Viento cleared his throat, obviously thinking along the same lines.

"Well... half-breeds have been known to exist," he said, perhaps a little more seriously than he had been speaking before, "But they're mostly the products of rape or... really odd circumstances." He wasn't looking at Momoko anymore, but at some point off to the side of the cot. At any rate, none of that information made her feel particularly better.

"What I really meant was that we all know that your love wave can weaken us," Viento went on, his eyes settling on Momoko again as his tone lightened, "And our evil energy isn't all that healthy for you, either. I guess you already figured that part out, though. It's really not worth doing it just to spite you." This, oddly enough, did make Momoko feel a bit better about things. "Besides..." Viento continued, his face lighting up a bit.

"Besides... what?" Momoko asked, a bit worried that he'd suddenly seemed so happy. Viento bent down closer to her eye level as he held his hands in front of his chest in a cupping motion.

"Demons like their girls to have a little more up front," he said, grinning, "So like I said, I don't think you have anything to worry about." Momoko knew her face was red now.

"If they're so small, then don't look at them, pervert!" she yelled, watching as he stood straight again, laughing at her.

"Anyway," he said after the laughter had died away, "That's the basic rule. You already know from what Pluie did to you at the reception that you're supposed to bow and grovel to us whenever you see us. Make sure you do that, okay? Always enter our rooms on your knees if you're summoned, always use polite titles, don't speak unless you're spoken to, and never look any of us in the eye. Those are all quick ways to get punished." Momoko looked up at him in confusion again.

"But I've been looking at you while you speak the entire time we've been talking," she said, not sure whether she should continue doing it or not.

"That's because I don't care if you do or not," he replied simply, "I don't need some angel cowering from me to make me feel better about myself. But you should know that Pluie's out to find any reason he can get to take a lash to you because of how you humiliated him before. Those are just good excuses for him to go ahead and do it. I'd try to avoid giving him any reason to if I were you." Momoko looked down at the floor, a bit dejected.

"I was just doing what I was supposed to," she said sheepishly, "I really didn't mean to humiliate him."

"Reine Devilla-sama was ready to get rid of him and Aquelda both before they..." Viento stopped short of finishing his sentence, almost as if he'd said something he hadn't meant to say. "Before we... finally managed to overrun the human world." Somehow, Momoko didn't think that was what he'd intended to say, but didn't really know what else he could've said instead. Instead of saying anything, though, she looked back up at him attentively.

"Anyway, like I was saying," he went on, quickly changing the topic, "There are other rules you have to follow. For starters, you're going to be woken up every morning at four. You'll have fifteen minutes to get dressed before you have to leave your room, and you won't be allowed back in except for lunch and after nine o' clock at night. From nine to ten is time for you to take a bath, cook dinner, whatever. From ten till four you aren't allowed out of your room unless you're under orders or you're going straight to or from the bathroom. You don't have to sleep, but you can't be wandering around the halls." Momoko listened as carefully as she could, trying to remember everything he was telling her. She felt like she should be taking notes; this was going to turn out to be more information than she could retain, she just knew it.

"So... what do I do at four fifteen after I leave my room?" she asked, feeling a bit confused again. Surely they couldn't have _that_ much for her to do, could they? If she'd added correctly, she was going to be working seventeen hours a day, not even counting if someone wanted her to do something for them during the night.

"When you leave your room in the morning, you'll get your orders for the day," Viento replied, continuing in his explanation, "More often than not, they'll be left tacked to your door. That's also when you'll receive your food for the day; you'll get a cup of uncooked rice every morning." Momoko looked around the room just to be sure, and yes, she was right; there was nothing to cook anything with in here.

"But..." she began, still surveying the room, "There's nothing to cook it with in here. And there's not even any electricity, is there? I couldn't plug in a rice cooker even if I wanted to." Viento shrugged.

"There's a little courtyard on the other side of your window," he remarked, looking in its direction as Momoko turned to do the same thing, "There's a pot you can build a fire under out there to cook with. It takes a while to cook, though, so you'll want to make time between chores in the morning to start your rice for lunch. If I were you, I'd cook the whole thing then, and then save half of it for dinner. That way you don't have to cook when you're tired at night." She couldn't help but think he was right. Besides, cooked rice would keep that long, even if it wouldn't taste as good. The key would just be to keep it covered during the day. But still, something else worried Momoko.

"But since I'm going to be working so hard, is a cup going to be enough for a day?" she asked, beginning to worry. Were they going to starve her, too? At this observation, Viento's expression changed, too - if only slightly. Maybe she was imagining it, but his eyes had begun to show a little concern. Could he actually feel pity, Momoko wondered.

"You know," he said slowly, thoughtfully, "It might not be. Rice is filling, though, so make sure you eat it all. It's just..." Momoko hung on his words. Would he actually change a rule for her? After a few more moments of silence, she finally spoke up.

"It's just what?" she asked, curious.

"Well, the other angels had problems with human food," Viento replied, eyeing her with some concern, "It was kinda rough for them. One even died because she didn't eat enough. You're not that delicate, are you?" Momoko knew he wasn't trying to insult her this time; he seemed genuinely concerned. Rice wasn't exactly the same thing as the milk and honey the angels were used to eating. Other than that, it almost seemed like a ridiculous question to her, so she shook her head eagerly.

"No, I can get by just fine on, uhh... human food," she replied, the idea of it being referred to as 'human food' also seeming odd to her. "I actually really like it a lot." Viento smiled again, clearly amused.

"Thought so," he replied softly before speaking back up again, "Don't worry. So do I. Actually, I get teased for it by the other demons." He raked his fingers through his unkempt hair, smiling at her in mild embarrassment. Momoko couldn't help but smile back.

"But what do demons normally eat?" she asked, realizing that she'd taken for granted that they ate the same sorts of things as humans. Now she was genuinely curious.

"Uhh... you know..." Viento said, suddenly seeming a bit more hesitant, "We can live off of human food if we have to or want to, but... Most demons like the sap or fruit from certain trees in the Demon World, or... uhh... we can also draw power from emotions like anger, fear, and hatred." Momoko noticed that he said the last part without looking at her. Was he ashamed? She didn't understand - it's not like he could help the way he was made, right? Besides, angels got their power from love energy, so it only made sense that demons would need negative emotions.

"Yeah, so..." he said, turning back to her and obviously wanting to change the subject to something less awkward, "We should go back to talking about rules and stuff."

"You're not allowed to take your collar off," Viento continued, his earlier discomfort dissapaiting, "And if you walk anywhere with one of us, we'll walk you with the leash. Make sure you walk behind us whenever you're on the leash." He held up the black leather strap he'd been holding in his left hand to show her. Had he been holding it this entire time? Momoko hadn't even noticed, but then again, things had been pretty hectic. Still, she didn't really like the idea of being walked like a dog.

"You're also not allowed to leave the grounds," he went on, "The only time you'll be allowed out is when you've been ordered to or you're being accompanied by one of us. I might have you do a few errands for me, but don't expect to go out too much. Whenever you go out, whoever sent you will give you a note or something to prove that you've been ordered to go." Momoko could understand this one. They didn't want her trying to escape, but after what had happened tonight, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go outside of the campus anyway.

"And that's pretty much it," Viento said finally, shrugging, "You have any questions? You can ask me, I won't get mad." Momoko believed him, but she also felt relieved, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had so many questions over what had happened tonight that she had just had to bottle up inside.

"Will you really answer my questions?" she asked hopefully. Viento looked at her, not at all unkindly.

"Well, I'll try," he said sheepishly, "I don't know everything, you know." Momoko nodded and tried to figure out what to ask him first.

"I guess the biggest one," she started, looking at the floor, "Is why you demons went through all this trouble just to get an angel. You don't really need me for the slave labor, right? Not that I want you to or anything, but wouldn't it have made more sense to just kill us all in the first place?" Momoko looked back up at him expectantly.

"It's a pride thing," Viento replied evenly, "Why kill your enemies when you can subjugate them? Reine Devilla-sama thought it would be crueller to just leave you all alive. Besides that, the angels aren't anywhere near strong enough to be of any threat to us, so there's no real reason to kill them off." Momoko was horrified. That truly was cruel. Up until now, she had thought that perhaps Viento might be a decent enough person, even if he was a demon. Now she wasn't so sure. Did he feel the same way as Reine Devilla? She thought she might cry.

"Oh," she replied weakly, looking away and trying to think of another question, "So... uhhh... why did I have to come here in my wedding dress?" As soon as she said it, Momoko realized it sounded silly, but it was the first thing she could think of, and it really had been bugging her.

"Well, usually the angel just walks here in his or her best robes, but I guess you're a special case," Viento replied, rubbing the back of his head, "Still, think about it. If you were to think of a person who would be the personification of love right off the top of your head, what kind of person would you think of?" Momoko didn't understand what he was getting at.

"An angel?" she said, perplexed. Viento winked at her and tapped his nose.

"Exactly," he went on, "And what is the greatest symbol of the love between two people that you can think of?" This was starting to make some sort of weird sense to Momoko, but she just couldn't put the pieces together.

"A wedding," she replied, "But what does that have to do with anything?" Viento looked like he might laugh.

"You really are slow, aren't you?" he asked, clearly amused, "Ever hear the term 'scapegoat'? Letting the humans rip into the angel on her first night lets them blow off some steam and teaches them that love is useless at the same time. The fact that you had a wedding dress on was just that much better. It also shakes the angel up and makes her easier to intimidate. It's all conditioning." Momoko looked down at Jama-P, not wanting to meet Viento's eyes anymore. She wished she hadn't asked now.

"That's horrible," she said quietly, finally blinking as the corners of her eyes filled with tears, "All those people hate me over nothing." She bit her bottom lip, closing her eyes. Much to Momoko's surprise, however, she felt a hand rest gently on her head, just behind her tiara.

"Hey," Viento said, causing her to open her eyes and look up. He was now kneeling in front of her so that he was at eye-level. The hand he'd laid on her head stroked her hair and veil as it came around to rest on her cheek. "Hey, don't cry," he said, more kindness in his voice than Momoko was really expecting, "It's not you they hate, okay? They hate their own lives. It's nothing personal."

Momoko stared at him, dumbfounded and wide-eyed. Since when did demons act like _this_? There was defintely something odd about this guy. He was just too nice. Worse yet, it made Momoko cry more.

"Wha-?" Viento said, surprised and from the tone of his voice, nervous, "Why are you crying now? Stop it! Come on! I hate seeing girls cry!" Momoko knew he wasn't trying to be cruel, that she was just making him uncomfortable. "Hey! I order you to stop!" he finally said, sounding more like he was hoping it'd work than as though he were issuing an actual order.

"You're too nice to me!" Momoko finally said between sobs, "Why are you being so nice? It's confusing! Demons aren't supposed to act like that!" She finally managed to choke back enough tears to stare at him questioningly. Viento looked more than bit taken aback.

"Because... I feel like it, okay?" he finally said, standing and trying to sound defensive. Momoko could tell that her question had made him nervous, though; she thought she might be imagining things, but it looked to her like he might even be blushing. "I could always treat you like Pluie, if you like that sort of thing," he said, trying to tease her. Momoko shook her head furiously.

"No," she said, her tears beginning to subside, "I like you a lot more than Pluie." If her face hadn't been red already from crying, Momoko thought she might have turned pink at that admission. Then she realized that she had one more question.

"I just remembered," she said, wiping her face and looking back up at Viento, "You said all the angels that came here got sick. What made me sick earlier? I feel fine now." It was true; she was barely aware of it, but after throwing up, Momoko felt better. Now she could barely tell that she'd been ill at all.

"Yeah, that," he replied, seeming a little embarrassed, "That's because of us. When you were in the gym with us, you were cooped up with a bunch of powerful demon lords. We do that every year to welcome the angel. All of our evil energy in that small of a space is too much for any one of you. When you, uhh, threw up, your body was getting rid of the last of it. At least, that's what I've heard." Momoko looked at him with no small deal of interest.

"What you've heard?" she asked. Did this happen to every angel they got?

"Yeah, what I've heard," he repeated, "This is the first orientation I've done. Pluie did the other three. So I only know about how sick the other angels got through him. The last one... he puked on Pluie's shoes. You should've seen the look on his face when he came back." Momoko stared in disbelief as Viento began snickering to himself at the memory. She then exchanged a look with Jama-P, who looked to be as confused as she was.

"You... don't like Pluie?" she asked, curious. Well, she supposed even demons could fight amongst themselves; it just wasn't something she'd ever given any thought to.

"I guess you could say that," Viento replied with a smile, shrugging, "There's... bad blood between us." He left it at that, but Momoko found herself wanting to hear more before she realized it. She stopped herself before she said anything, though; was it alright for her to be this interested in hearing a demon talk about himself? Then again, he didn't act like any other demon she'd ever met, so...

"You got any more questions?" he asked, stretching and stifling a yawn, "It's already close to your bedtime. You're gonna need all the sleep you can get." Momoko blinked, realizing that it probably was getting late. How long had they been talking, anyway? They kept getting distracted, so it took longer than it probably should have.

"Ummm," she said, racking her brain for anything else she needed or wanted to know, "Uhh... where's the bathroom?" Viento blinked at her this time, apparently not having expected that particular question.

"It's, uhh, to your right, as soon as you come out of this door," he replied, jerking a thumb toward the door, "It's really close, so you can go in the middle of the night without anyone bothering you for being out of your room." Momoko looked down, embarrassed. She hated having to ask all these questions. Once again, though, she felt a hand on her head, patting her this time.

"You know," Viento said, smiling, "I really could stay here talking to you all night, honey. But you need to get some sleep." Momoko looked back up, her cheeks puffed out again.

"Who's your honey!" she asked angrily, already knowing that she was turning red again. Where did he get off calling her that? At times like these, his grin was more annoying than cute.

"Go to sleep, honey," Viento said, mocking her as he waved and turned toward the door. Momoko fumed as she watched him put the black leash down on the counter top.

"I have a name, you know!" she yelled, causing him to stop with his hand on the doorknob. Viento turned to face her again, still smiling that obnoxious smile.

"I know," he said simply, before opening the door and slipping out. Momoko almost wanted to throw something at the door as it snapped shut, but couldn't find anything within reach anyway. A second later, though, her expression evened out and she was almost smiling again; that demon wasn't that bad at all. In fact, she thought he might be a nice person, even if he did seem to like to annoy her a lot. Momoko hoped that she could work for him instead of the other demons - would they just give her to one demon, anyway? Or would she get bounced around a lot?

As she wondered about this, more than a little nervous, Jama-P wiggled out of her arms and came to float before her face. She noticed him after a second or two, being a little removed from the present by her thoughts. He seemed to look serious and worried about something.

"Momoko-chama..." he began, causing Momoko to blink. She definitely recognized the anxiety in his tone of voice.

"What's wrong, Jama-P?" she asked, beginning to worry about him. Poor guy - he'd been cooped up in her bag for most of the evening, only being able to listen to what had been going on. Maybe he was shaken up by it?

"It's that demon-pi," Jama-P fretted, "You shouldn't-pi mess with him." Momoko blinked at her yellow companion. Did Jama-P really dislike Viento that much? Surely he wasn't jealous? That would just be silly of him.

"Jama-P," Momoko said, smiling, "Don't worry so much. He seemed like an okay person, even if he was a little annoying." Jama-P shook his head vigorously.

"You don't get it, Momoko-chama," he said, a hint of panic creeping into his voice, "He's really powerful-pi! He's from the Rafaal tribe!" Momoko blinked at him. She had forgotten the name of the tribe that Viento had mentioned belonging to. Of course, seeing as how she really didn't understand the demons' society, anyway, the information hadn't seemed particularly important to her in the first place. Whatever it was, though, it seemed to have made Jama-P pretty nervous.

"But why is that important?" she asked, her tone betraying the fact that she didn't have a clue as to what Jama-P was carrying on about.

"Because-pi!" he said, waving his arms and getting more and more excited, "They're Reine Devilla-sama's most powerful-pi warriors! Viento could be almost as powerful as she is-pi!" This took a moment to register with Momoko; when it did, her face went pale and she almost fell over sideways onto the cot.

"He's _what_?" she squealed, somewhat regaining her senses, "You mean to tell me that I was talking to the second most-powerful demon in the world, and I punched him in the face!" Momoko didn't know whether to be mortified, or to be grateful he hadn't gone ahead and killed her. On second thought, she decided that a mixture of the two, with a side of panic, would do nicely. Jama-P nodded sheepishly.

"It's kinda scary, though-pi," he continued, almost thoughtfully, "Because the Rafaal tribe was supposed to have all died out-pi years ago." Momoko decided to take a moment from her panicking to give Jama-P a questioning look.

"So, you don't know who this guy is?" she asked, now throwing confusion into the whirlwind of turbulent emotions she was feeling. Jama-P shook his head again. It didn't make any sense, though; Momoko had always taken for granted that Jama-P would know the demons she was up against. This was the first time that he hadn't know one when he came face-to-face with him. What did that mean, exactly?

"No-pi," he replied, still sounding a bit worried, "I've never seen him before-pi. All I can think of-pi, is that he must have been stranded on Earth for a long-pi time, and they've only found him since the second war ended-pi." Momoko remembered that her mother had also been stranded on Earth because of a battle; was that sort of thing common?

"Maybe that's why he acts like a human instead of a demon?" Momoko mused, more for her own benefit than Jama-P's, "Maybe he didn't realize until just recently that he was a demon at all?" While she really wanted to believe that, that maybe Viento wasn't as hateful as other demons, she still worried a bit about how cheerful he'd been when he gave her the reasons why the demons did what they did. Maybe he liked being a demon? He did seem pretty comfortable with himself, she thought. What kind of person did that make him, really?

"Piiii," Jama-P said, drawing the syllable out as he thought, "The Rafaal are supposed to be really vicious, though-pi. You shouldn't have anything-pi to do with him until we can figure it out-pi. He could be dangerous." He'd sounded more worried than stern, Momoko thought. Was that tribe really that bad?

"Okay," Momoko finally said, smiling wearily at her companion, "If it makes you feel better, I'll try to stay away from him. But if he orders me to do something, I have to do it, remember?" Jama-P nodded solemnly as Momoko stood from her cot. She put her her hands in the air above her head and stretched; her arms and legs were aching from the trip there.

"I know-pi," Jama-P replied, watching with concern as Momoko looked around the room. Momoko figured that she might as well explore the place now that it was hers. Not that there was much of it to look through, but there was at least a cupboard and a metal cabinet.

Momoko decided that the first place she wanted to look at was the cupboard above the sink. She walked over to the wood-paneled doors, eyeing the black leash laying on the counter with disdain, and opened the cupboard. The lamplight didn't reach the back of the shelves thoroughly, so Momoko had to squint to see what was inside. As her face neared the cabinet, she was met with a squeak and the sound of claws scraping on wood. Startled, Momoko jumped back, squealing as a grey mouse vaulted out of the cupboard and skittered away underneath the tall metal cabinet.

Momoko and Jama-P stared at where the creature had disappeared to, not at all wanting to see if they could catch it. In fact, as long as it left her alone, Momoko'd be more than happy to do it the same favor. Breathing heavily, she leaned against the sink.

After another second of recovery, Momoko turned again to look into the cupboard. This time she found no mouse; instead there was a half-eaten (she presumed by the mouse) pack of crackers, a jar of honey, and a box of matches. The crackers were finished, and they went into the trash, but Momoko figured the honey might come in handy if she got really low on food and needed some energy. She then realized that the box of matches could be used for lighting a fire underneath her pot outside. Happily, Momoko pulled the box down and opened it; there was still close to an entire pack.

"These'll be good for cooking," she said almost cheerfully, causing Jama-P to nod. Besides, she thought, what use was it to be down-hearted right now? Might as well take comfort in the little things, right? It couldn't hurt. Of course, the knowledge that not all demons were vicious and evil had given her a bit of hope, too.

Momoko put the matches back, closed the doors, and moved from the cupboard to the standing metal cabinet. Upon opening that, she was grateful to find that nothing had taken up residence inside it. Instead, there was a pillow (it looked like the kind found in hospitals, she thought, disappointed) and a few stacks of linens for her cot. On the top shelf was a wind-up alarm clock. That would come in handy to make sure she woke up on time, Momoko realized. Unfortunately, it looked as though it hadn't been wound in several months, as the hands had stopped at the 2:13 position.

Momoko reached over for her yellow overnight bag, picking it up and fishing around the open compartment for her wristwatch and nightclothes. Once she found them, she wound and set the alarm clock, sat it on the small table at the head of the cot, and put her bag into the metal locker. The pillow, a set of sheets, and her pajamas landed on the cot.

Sighing, Momoko peeled off the tattered remains of her wedding dress to get ready for bed. Well, at least things couldn't get any worse, right? They just had to go up from here.

Several hallways away and at least a floor up, a demon stood alone, leaning against a shadowed wall and staring out an unlit window. Almost unconciously, his fist met the wall behind him - not really hard enough to do any damage, no, but it served just as well as an outlet for his frustrations.

"Damn it," Viento swore quietly to himself. Why did it always go like that with her? Why was it that whenever she was around, he felt compelled to make an ass out of himself? Why was it so damned hard for him to just be _nice_ to her? Maybe it _was_ his fault, but she didn't help things any either, backtalking him like that. Then again, she had always been stubborn and argumentive like that; he supposed it was part of her charm.

"I'm just tired," he finally said quietly, pushing himself from the wall and heading out into the shadows. "And I'm acting like a moron."


	4. Punishment and Salvation

**Warnings:** Alt universe, het (Viento/Peach), dark, ANGST, violence, gore, bondage. If you find beatings and spankings upsetting, avert thine eyes now. 

**Disclaimer:** I really wasn't kidding about the beatings and spankings, you know. These characters belong to numerous Japanese publishing entities, such as Sukehiro Tomita, Nao Yazawa, Tenyu, and Shogakukun. You'll notice how none of those are me. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.

Broken Wings: Chapter Four 

Punishment and Salvation

by Crystal Dawn Phoenix

Momoko awoke to her first morning of service, not to the tones of the wind-up alarm clock she'd managed to find, but to the sounds of a loud banging at her door. As she opened her eyes, feeling her heart beat frantically at the startling noise, she looked around the darkened room, almost frightened.

"Wake up-jama!" a small, angry voice called as the beating paused, "Lazy angel! Open this door-jama!" Momoko sat up, vaguely aware that Jama-P had buried himself beneath her pillow at the sound of the voice. After another second of listening to the pounding on the door, Momoko started a bit and threw her legs over the side of the cot. Not even bothering with the houseshoes she'd laid out the night before, she ran across the cold tile floor and nearly dove for the door handle.

Once open, the door revealed a rumpled and irritated-looking Ojama that resembled nothing more sinister than a small, angry elephant in a skirt ruffle. Momoko blinked sleepily and rubbed her eyes with one hand as she looked at it.

"I'm sorry," she said, her fatigue showing in her voice as she stifled a yawn. The Ojama didn't seem to care.

"Why do I have to do this?" it groused, mostly to itself, "I hate coming down here-jama! Stupid angels and their stupid-jama love waves. Here!" With that, it shoved a piece of paper into Momoko's hand. She took it, dumbfounded.

"Here are your chores for the morning-jama," it said, still glaring at her, "Someone will give you-jama more later. There's some food out here for you, too-jama." Momoko looked down, puzzled. Sure enough, just as Viento had told her, there was a small basket with a container inside it sitting at her feet. She bent down to pick it up, unable to see it very clearly in the pale pre-dawn light.

"Get dressed-jama," the Ojama barked, turning its back on Momoko, "If you're not out of there in fifteen-jama minutes, I'm calling Potamos-sama!" Momoko looked up, only to find that the grumpy little demon had disappeared. Just as well; she only had fifteen minutes to get dressed. A demon standing over her the entire time wouldn't help at all.

Momoko shut the door as she turned back toward the room. She smiled a bit as she saw Jama-P shake off the pillow and blankets on the cot at the sound of the door clicking shut. Setting the basket down on the counter, Momoko reached for the oil lamp that lay beside the sink. She turned the wick up and pulled the box of matches down from the cupboard above.

Once the lamp was lit, she set about inspecting the contents of the basket. As expected, there was a small bottle with a cork in the top; upon closer inspection, Momoko found that it would hold about a cup, that it was made from clay, that it was full of something that made scratchy noises when shaken, and that it had a little loop on the side, presumably for holding with a finger. She figured she could tie it at her waist when she put her robes on so that she could carry it with her during the morning. That way, she wouldn't have to stop back by her room to get her lunch started.

Looking back in the basket, Momoko found that there was also some cloth rumpled up in the bottom. Thinking it odd (what use would decorations be in this situation?), she pulled the cloth out. The flickering light from the oil lamp revealed a triangular rice ball wrapped in nori paper. Her eyes lit up like a child in a candy store.

"Wonder what flavor it is?" she mused aloud, pulling the rice ball out with something bordering on glee. She turned it over in her hands, realizing that nothing was mentioned last night about rice balls being included with her daily rations. Was it a present?

"Momoko-chama!" Jama-P admonished her from his place among the blankets, "You can worry about that later-pi! You've got ten minutes to get dressed!" Momoko started, looking back over to her yellow companion. She placed the rice ball on the counter beside the little basket before running over to the metal cabinet to get the overnight bag that held her normal robes.

After frantically plowing through her bag, Momoko located a plain white robe, a cord to tie it (and her jar of rice) with, and her sandals. As she threw her night clothes off and threw the white shift on, she couldn't help but wonder what she was going to do when winter came; she hadn't thought to pack anything warmer, and the Angel World didn't really even have winter, anyway.

Her time ticking down, Momoko ran a brush through her hair before pinning the sides up with the customary yellow bows she liked to wear. At that point, she was finally done. Wasting no time, she ran to the sink and grabbed the jar, the rice ball, and the note with her chores written on it.

She looked disdainfully at the leash lying over the side of the sink, debating whether or not to bring it along. Viento had said that any time she had to walk with a demon, that they'd leash her. Did he mean only the higher demons? Would she get in trouble for not having it with her? Finally, sensing that she should hurry, she grabbed the leash and wound it around her left arm; that way, it would be out of her way and if one of them wanted to use it, she wouldn't get in trouble for not having it.

Satisfied that there was nothing else she needed to take with her, Momoko ran for the door, opening and shutting it so fast that Jama-P barely had time to react.

"Momoko-chama!" he called in an urgent whisper.

Once outside the room, Momoko slumped against the door, taking a few good, deep breaths. She held the little rice ball to her chest, feeling her heart pound underneath her robes. She knew she'd just made it.

"About-jama time!" the angry little voice from before called. Momoko nearly jumped, not having been aware that there was anyone else out in the hallway with her. A light sprung to life in the air ahead of her and attached itself to a candlestick. As the candle and its holder bobbed up and down in midair, Momoko could see the creature holding it. The Ojama from before had been waiting on her. It hadn't heard Jama-P, had it?

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out without thinking. Her startled eyes focused on the angry Ojama for a second before she remembered Viento's warnings and looked hastily down at the floor. This was going to take some getting used to, especially with all the strange-looking demons that she knew had to be hanging around here.

"Whatever," it answered boredly, "I have to tell you where to-jama go, so let's get this over with-jama." Maybe it was just annoyed at having been woken up so early, Momoko figured. She knew that if she had to be up this early under any other circumstances, that she wouldn't be happy either. Not that she was overly-thrilled as it was.

She followed the little floating elephant down the hallway, trying to remember exactly where they would be in the school. As they approached a stairwell, she looked out one of the windows to her left. As she noted a large tree on the other side of the window that appeared to have been stripped of its leaves, she realized that they must have been in the corridor leading from the nurse's office. Which would make her room the nurse's office itself! Momoko felt a bit of relief at having figured that out.

As she entered the stairwell at the end of the hallway behind the little floating demon, Momoko failed to notice the door to her new room open a bit and then shut again softly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first hour and a half had flown by, at least. Momoko figured that was a good sign; as long as she had something to keep her busy, time would pass quickly, right?

As she plopped down on the cold concrete stoop just outside a set of double doors outside the main building, a small sigh escaped Momoko's lips. She had been hauling garbage since Pumpie (that was the little elephant-demon's name, she later found out) had left her. Pumpie had shown her the corridors with the higher ranking demons' rooms on them, and ever since then she'd been making her way through them by herself.

Each of the occupants of the different rooms had left their trash outside their doors for her to pick up this morning. At first it had been a bit difficult to find her way around with only the candle Pumpie had left her with (let alone carrying anything while trying to hold it), but as the sky had lightened since then, it had become considerably easier.

The first corridor she'd had to make her way through had been on the second floor of the east wing of the building (coincidentally, her room was on the first floor of the west wing - it occurred to her that she had probably been placed as far away from the demons' living spaces as possible). Those rooms, Momoko had been told, belonged to some of the higher ranking generals and lesser lords; she remembered them herself from her time as a student there as classrooms and staff rooms.

As soon as the second floor was cleared, she had been able to start on the third. The third floor apparently belonged to the rest of the demons deemed important enough to warrant a room in the building. There were only two who weren't on this floor; Pluie's room was on the fourth floor of the east wing while Viento had the entire north wing to himself.

Momoko looked past the dumpster she'd been bringing the garbage out to and across the schoolyard. The rising sun was now coloring the pale sky a rosy pink. The demons would surely soon be up and about, and the peaceful quiet of the morning would be broken. Worse yet, now that Momoko was done with the third floor, her next destination was the hallway outside of Pluie's room. She swallowed at that thought; she was going to be by herself in that hallway and the only other person on that floor would be Pluie.

Looking out through the early morning fog, Momoko figured now would be as good a time as any to eat the riceball she'd been carrying with her. She reached inside the front of her robes, right above where the rope fastened the cloth to her chest, and pulled out the little nori-covered treat. Yes, she realized happily, it was still in good shape. She had been taking care all morning not to jostle it too much. It had become almost like her little treasure, she thought with a small smile. Funny what small comforts people would cling to in trying times.

With a small 'crack', Momoko bit through the crispy paper and into the riceball itself. Her smile grew as she chewed, tasting a bit of something kind of salty; whatever it was, it was familiar. Looking down at the treat in her hands, she was delighted to see a tiny bit of red in the middle of the white rice - it was pickled plum! An excited, muffled noise left Momoko's throat as she finished swallowing that bite and took another. She briefly wondered how Viento had known that she liked pickled plum (because surely he was the one who had left it for her), before deciding that she really didn't care all that much. The important thing was that this riceball was fantastic!

Momoko barely noticed a tiny change in air current as her small yellow companion faded into existence beside her. Jama-P panted a little, almost as if he'd been running or walking up a long flight of stairs. The noise caused Momoko to blink and look down in his direction. As soon as she spotted him, she almost choked on the rice in her mouth.

"Jama-P!" she exclaimed as quietly as she could, "What are you doing out here?" The little demon took a deep breath before looking up at its mistress.

"I came to find you-pi," he said, still sounding a bit winded, "I was-pi worried about you, Momoko-chama! I don't want-pi you to get in any trouble-pi." Momoko stared at him for a moment before smiling warmly.

"Don't worry about me, Jama-P," she said, "I'll be fine. But you should get back to the room before anyone sees you!" Jama-P looked chastised as he stared guiltily at the pavement.

"I'm sorry, Momoko-chama," he said sadly, "But I couldn't find you-pi anywhere. It was scary-pi!" Momoko patted him between his large ears.

"That's because I was taking all this trash out," she pointed out, "I wasn't in one place for too long, so that's probably why you couldn't find me. But I'm almost finished! I only have two more rooms to go, so don't worry!" Jama-P looked back up at Momoko as she took another bite of the riceball.

"Two more rooms-pi?" he asked, probably trying to find a way to stay with her for a bit longer.

"Mm hmm," Momoko nodded, swallowing a bit of riceball, "All I have left is Pluie's room and Viento's room over in the north wing." Jama-P started to look worried again.

"Momoko-chama," he fretted, "Are you sure-pi that you'll be okay?" Momoko gave her small friend a brave smile. The truth was, though, she was worried about it herself. What if Pluie was waiting for her? Still, it was better not to get Jama-P involved in any case.

"I'll be just fine, Jama-P," she said, hoping she was convincing him, "I won't even see them. I've not seen anyone yet." Jama-P seemed to relax a bit, for which Momoko was very grateful. "So you should go ahead and go back," she finished, taking another nip from the yummy riceball.

Jama-P looked down at the concrete steps again, reluctantly. "If you say so-pi, Momoko-chama," he said, sounding a bit dejected. Momoko swallowed the rice in her mouth and watched as her friend disappeared.

It really was for the best, she mused, turning her attention back to the rising sun. As she watched the sky, she thought that this whole thing might be harder on Jama-P than it was on her. He definitely worried a lot for her and had been much more nervous than she had since he appeared the night before. Hopefully he'd settle down in a few days. Momoko took another bite of the riceball, concentrating on the sunrise to get her mind off of more unpleasant things.

The first bit of red had just cleared the horizon, causing the sky to lighten even more. The unbearable heat was going to come back soon, Momoko realized; she had maybe a couple of hours at best before it was as hot as it was last night. It would be awful working in that, so she figured she might as well finish hauling the garbage out before that happened. Maybe she'd get an assignment that would allow her to stay inside the rest of the day after this?

Finishing the last little bite of rice and nori, Momoko licked her fingers and stood. As she stretched a bit of stiffness out of her back and legs, it occurred to her that licking her fingers wasn't very polite. Really, though, who was going to chastise her for it? Besides that, it wasn't as if she had anything to wipe the stickiness from the rice off of her fingers with, either. A small smile crept onto her lips. This early in the morning, with no one around to scold or frighten her, Momoko felt amazingly free.

As Momoko made her way back inside and up the stairs to the fourth floor, though, the peaceful feeling she had gotten outside evaporated. She could hear noises down the hallways, a sign that the demons were beginning to rise and go about their business. Then again, it could have just been because she'd reentered a building full of demons, Momoko thought, remembering what had happened in the gym the previous night.

Momoko felt a wave of relief wash over her as she came to the door of the fourth floor. Only a few more minutes and she could be done with this wing and move on to the north wing. Hopefully there weren't as many demons over there. Then again, Momoko realized, if Viento was the only demon that lived in that wing, wouldn't that mean he'd be the only one over there right now? Momoko thought she felt her face get hot at that idea; was she blushing now?

Shaking her head, Momoko tried to clear her mind of such thoughts before she entered Pluie's hallway. She couldn't be nervous; she had a job to do! The sooner she was done with this, the better. Besides, it would only worry Jama-P to know that she was thinking of Viento now. A bit more resolved, she pushed the door open into the fourth floor hallway.

As soon as she entered the hall, though, Momoko could tell something was off. For one thing, the hallway was already clean. None of the doors had anything waiting for her in front of them. Momoko almost thought there was some mistake; what convinced her otherwise was the heavy aura of the hall. It was oppressive and a bit cold, weighing on her and making her feel heavier. It was the same with the other hallways, only in those, she was always vaguely aware that there were many demons just hidden from view. In this hallway, on the other hand, everything was silent.

Shivering, Momoko rubbed her bare arms and looked from side to side as she walked down the hall. There were a couple rows of lockers lining the walls on either side, but other than that and a few doors, there really wasn't anything there at all. She wondered idly as she took in all the doors along the hall which one belonged to Pluie. She doubted it'd be one of the ones without a window set into it; those would be storage closets.

Curious, and realizing she needed to find Pluie to ask him if he had anything he'd like taken out, Momoko began trying the doors. Starting with the door closest to the stairs, she pushed the latches above the handles down and tried pushing the doors open. As she worked her way away from the stairwell, none of the doors would budge; they were all locked. Perhaps Pluie had locked his door? If she couldn't find him, did that mean she'd be free to move on, or would she be punished for not getting his room? Momoko began to worry that she was going to be punished whether she found his room or not.

Finally, about half-way down the hall, between two sets of lockers, a door gave and pushed inward. Momoko stared at it in surprise for a moment before stepping toward it. Could this be his room? Curiously, Momoko peered around the door.

"H-hello?" she asked hesitantly, not really sure if she should enter or not. As she looked out at the room, though, she realized that it must belong to Pluie; there was a single blue candle flame burning further back toward what looked like a bed. She couldn't make much else out in the gloom, though.

"Pluie-sama?" Momoko said slowly, her voice barely more than a whisper. Was he even in here? She stepped into the room, clear of the door. As soon as she had, something blew past her head, slamming the door shut hard. The light from the hallway vanished, plunging the room into a dreary blue darkness. As Momoko turned back to the door, her heart almost skipped a beat. There was an arm extended even with her head, holding the door shut behind her. She turned to face its owner holding her breath.

"What do you think you're doing, angel?" Pluie growled, his voice rough from sleep. No where else to run, Momoko pressed her back against the door. She stared transfixed at the demon before her, barely able to discern his features in the dim light. From what she could tell, though, Pluie didn't look angry; as a matter of fact, he was smiling. The realization almost hit Momoko like a fist; if Pluie was smiling about this and he still sounded that angry, she was definitely in trouble.

"I just... I mean I..." she stammered, trying to think of a way to get away from him, "I... I was trying... I wanted to check... I..." Before she could get any more out, a hand closed around Momoko's throat, causing her to wince.

"Who told you you could enter this room?" Pluie snarled, his voice low and deadly. Reflexively, Momoko brought her trembling hands up to his wrist, trying weakly to pry him away from her neck. "Well?" he asked again. Momoko tried to answer but found that her voice was too choked to form any words. Worse yet, she realized that he was cutting off her air.

When no answer was forthcoming, the fingers tightened around Momoko's neck, jerking her away from the door. There was a brief second of vertigo as Momoko was slung behind Pluie, her flight ending abruptly as her back collided with the cold floor. As the remaining air was knocked out of her lungs, Momoko gave a shrill scream before gasping for breath. Dizzy and trying to sit back up, Momoko thought she heard a small chuckle come from the direction of the door. She put her weight on her arms as she leaned up and looked around.

"Stupid girl," Pluie said quietly. A moment later, Momoko heard the sound of fingers snapping. Before she could wonder what had made the noise, though, she felt her arms jerked up and out from under her. As soon as she thought she was going to fall backwards, Momoko felt herself caught by her arms and being hoisted upwards. Panic began to seize her as she realized that she was being hung by her wrists.

"Either Viento didn't actually teach you anything at all last night," Pluie began, stepping toward his prey, "Or you really are just that stupid. So... which is it?" Momoko's feet were no longer touching the floor. She dangled loosely for a second, trying to find purchase with her toes before Pluie caught her chin in his hand. As he squeezed her cheeks, Momoko could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

"Then again," Pluie said calmly, almost to himself, "Neither one of you is very bright, it would seem. In that case, it looks like I'll have to teach you myself." Momoko winced as he released her face, frightened by the restrained laughter she heard come from low in Pluie's throat. There was a moment in which she floated, suspended by her arms with no anchor, waiting for some sort of contact and dreading whatever it would be.

The moment of foreboding stillness ended as Momoko felt something hard and cold strike her across the cheek, whipping her face violently to the right. She whimpered, worried that she could be bleeding or that the next impact could break her neck entirely.

"Oh, that won't do," Pluie said, the sound of his voice conveying a smile to Momoko even though she had her eyes shut against the pain, "I want to hear you scream."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

A small yellow head poked out from behind a bank of lockers, peering down the hallway in the direction he'd just watched Momoko go. Much to Jama-P's dismay, however, Momoko was nowhere in sight. Just to make sure, he emerged entirely from behind the lockers, floating out into the middle of the hallway to get a better look. He knew that she'd be angry if she found out that he hadn't gone back to their room like she'd told him to, but Jama-P knew that her anger was preferable to whatever Pluie might do to her.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if she'd disappeared behind the latest door she'd tried to open. Jama-P wavered for a moment, not exactly sure what he should do.

"Momoko-chama?" he asked in an urgent whisper. He was answered with the sound of a door being slammed hard further down the hall from him. He knew that there was no reason Momoko would slam a door like that; Pluie had to have been waiting for her. It was the only explanation - there was no other demon presence on this floor!

Jama-P was seized by a sudden anxiety. He couldn't just leave Momoko alone in there - there was no way that Pluie would let her go unharmed. For a moment, Jama-P started toward the door before catching himself and realizing what he was up against. There was no way he could get Momoko out by himself.

Floating indecisively, Jama-P thought quickly over his options. He wanted to go for help, but didn't know who to go to. Was there anyone there who would help them, anyway? He knew that if any of his tribe saw him, it would only cause more problems than it would solve, and if Pluie saw him it was as good as instant death. The only person Jama-P could think of that was close enough to actually get to Momoko in time was Viento, and he definitely didn't want to ask _him_ for help.

For one thing, the Rafaal had a reputation for being incredibly powerful, as well as violent and unpredictable. He didn't want Momoko to wind up on the wrong side of something like that. Having Viento save her could be worse than leaving her with Pluie, for sure.

Another thing about it that bugged Jama-P was the other demon's aura. It wasn't like a normal demon's, and it was certainly unlike anything Jama-P had felt before. It was odd and almost... unnatural. He wasn't at all certain that the difference was entirely a good thing, either.

Jama-P's wavering ended abruptly as he heard a muffled scream come from the other side of the door that Momoko had disappeared behind. As his heart pounded, his mind began to race. Nearly panicking, he weighed his options one more time. He could either try to save Momoko himself (which would definitely mean his death, and maybe hers too), or he could go ask Viento for help (which had a much greater chance of getting her out of there alive and with as few injuries to everyone involved as possible). Deciding that it would be much better to go get help than to try and tackle everything by himself, Jama-P decided to find Viento.

As he sped toward the stairs, however, Jama-P realized that he didn't really have the first clue where to look for him. Where was his room? Would he even be there if Jama-P could find it in the first place? Wait, hadn't Momoko said something about not having taken the trash in front of his room out yet? Yeah, she had! But did she say his room was in the north wing or the south wing? Did this place even have four wings?

Jama-P hurtled through the door and into the stairwell, hoping he didn't run into any other demons on the way. He then realized that, yes, the school only had three wings. If they were staying in the west wing, and they were currently in the east wing, then the other wing would be where Viento's room was. It didn't matter if it was north or south, he told himself; it was the only other wing he hadn't been to yet.

Holding his breath and closing his eyes, Jama-P vanished from the stairwell and reappeared on the first floor of the north wing. He looked around quickly, and when he was satisfied that no one was there to have seen him, headed directly toward the stairwell at the end of that hallway. The demon presence had thinned considerably in this wing, narrowed down to only a few Ojama and one large presence a few floors up from him. Still, he didn't want to chance running into any of those other Ojama by carelessly teleporting upwards until he found the right floor.

As he sped up the stairs, though, Jama-P began to realize how winded he was getting from all this running around. He desperately wanted to stop and catch his breath, but knew that the situation wouldn't allow that. He could be tired later; right now, Momoko needed his help. As he reached the top of the third flight of stairs, the presence he'd felt below had become much more powerful. Thankfully, he thought he'd finally reached the right floor.

Cautiously, Jama-P cracked the door on the landing of the third floor open and peered around it. The hallway on the other side was blessedly empty, clean, and silent, just like the hallway Pluie's room was in. The only real difference was the bag of garbage sitting outside one of the doors. Jama-P realized excitedly that that must be Viento's room. He'd found it!

With no more obstructions, Jama-P flew full-tilt toward the door. When he finally reached it, instead of trying to open it, he teleported straight to the other side.

"Viento-sama!" he cried frantically, eyes closed. What he found on the other side of the door, however, was definitely not what he'd been expecting to see.

He was definitely in a room now, of that there was no doubt. The sliding glass doors on the other side of the room bore testament to that, as they led out to a small patio and their open curtains flooded the room with north-easterly early morning sunlight. The glass illuminated the contents of the room to Jama-P. There was a bed with blue and brown covers, a chest of drawers with a mirror, a nightstand, a door just to the side of where Jama-P had entered that probably led to a closet or shower, and a small dining table between him and the bed. Just as Jama-P noticed the table, the person sitting at it began choking on his coffee.

The person sitting at the table and choking on his coffee, however, was not Viento.

Jama-P looked him over, confused. A boy was sitting there who appeared to be no older than Momoko. Instead of the impossibly tall, shaggy hair he remembered Viento having, this person's hair was short and combed over his head. There were no markings on his face at all, and instead of the warrior's dress Viento had worn, this person was only wearing a normal human tank top and jogging pants. Utterly bewildered, Jama-P checked this young man's aura again; yes, it definitely _was_ Viento!

"Vi-Viento-sama?" he asked, confused. This earned him a glare as the person at the table finished coughing up the coffee that had gone down the wrong way. The brunette slammed the coffee cup down on the table with one hand, and used the other to smooth over his face and rake his hair back. As he did so, Jama-P watched his features change and his hair become disheveled as he became the Viento he'd met the night before. It was apparent from the death glare he was receiving, though, that Jama-P had just seen something he probably wasn't supposed to have seen.

"Damn you!" Viento nearly roared, "Hasn't that pink-haired pufferfish taught you how to knock?!" Jama-P floated back a bit before gritting his teeth and remembering why he was there.

"That doesn't matter-pi!" he insisted, "Peach-chama's in trouble-pi!" Viento's anger vanished as he stared at the small yellow demon for a few long seconds. Then he picked what appeared to be a newspaper up off the table and focused his attention on it.

"It's none of my business," Viento replied, shaking the paper out and beginning to read it. Jama-P began to panic a bit. If Viento didn't help, how was he going to save Momoko?

"She's going to be hurt-pi!" he said desperately. He was on the verge of tears. There had to be a way to get the taller demon to understand what was at stake here.

"Look, Ojama," Viento said, turning from his paper and sounding as though he were explaining something to a very small child, "I can't just ride in on a white horse and save her everytime she gets herself into trouble. People would start to notice and that would get me in trouble, too. And then things would only get worse for her. Besides, she's never going to learn how to behave properly if she doesn't get punished a li..."

"You don't understand-pi!" Jama-P yelled, interrupting him, "Pluie-sama's got her-pi!" Viento stared at him for a moment before tossing the paper aside and rising from his chair. As he stood, the armor and mantle that Jama-P recognized from the night before took the place of the human clothing, shimmering into existence over his body. Viento almost stomped as he quickly made his way to the door.

"Oh, hell," he muttered to himself before raising his voice, "Why didn't you just say so? She had better not make this a habit. And you..." Viento directed an angry look at the Ojama as he reached the door. "If you breathe a word of what you saw this morning to her," he said, his voice becoming low and threatening as he grabbed the top of Jama-P's large head and shook him gently, "This will never happen again. Got it?"

"Got it-pi!" Jama-P nearly chirped back at him. Jama-P really had no clue why Viento cared if Momoko knew about his other form, and he didn't really care either way. As long as he was going to save her, Jama-P would be happy.

Viento relaxed his grip on the smaller demon's head before starting out the door. As he ran through to the hallway, Jama-P followed him. He stopped short, looking around in fury and confusion.

"Where did you say they were, Ojama?" he asked, turning his sharp gaze back to Jama-P.

"In Pluie-sama's room-pi," Jama-P answered automatically.

"In his _room_?" Viento parroted back, putting a certain stress on the last word that made Jama-P think he might be jealous.

"Do you know-pi where it's at?" he asked, changing the subject. Viento's aggravated look didn't waver.

"Yeah, I know where it's at," the brunette replied before vanishing abruptly. Jama-P blinked, taken aback for a few seconds before he followed suit and disappeared.

A second later, Jama-P reappeared in the hallway he'd left only a few minutes earlier. Now, though, Viento was standing before the door to Pluie's room, an expression of quiet fury on his face. Jama-P heard another small scream come from behind the door; as soon as the noise reached them, Viento's hand shot out for the door's handle.

"What are you going to do-pi?" he whispered, causing Viento to blink and then stare angrily down at him. Jama-P could feel it then, a powerful wave of evil energy coming from the larger demon. There was no mistaking it; he was frighteningly angry. It felt like Jama-P was being pinned like a bug for a moment before Viento responded to him.

"You..." he hissed before grabbing Jama-P by the top of his head again. He wasn't squeezing hard enough to hurt or anything, but it was disorienting nonetheless. "You need to hide and just be quiet," Viento finally said, opening a locker and shoving Jama-P inside, "Don't come out until I say you can." He closed the locker with a bit of restraint so as not to make too much noise, shutting the smaller creature inside.

Viento turned again to the door before him. He drew a few deep breaths, steeling himself for the task at hand. Whatever was on the other side of that door was not going to be pretty; he already knew that much from listening to the screams coming from inside the room. More importantly, he reminded himself that no matter what he saw, he absolutely could not lose his temper. His performance had to be perfect, and if he lost control, that wasn't going to happen. He'd either wind up in hot water himself, or worse, he'd wind up hurting Momoko.

After one more deep breath, Viento reached for the handle and pressed the latch in.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Momoko felt like she was almost ready to lose consciousness.

How long she'd been dangling like this, she wasn't sure at this point. She'd already lost track of time. Maybe it hadn't been that long, but it felt like an eternity to her. The only sensations she was now aware of in her arms were the aching, pulling feelings she felt at her shoulder joints from having all of her weight suspended from her wrists. Other than that, they felt cold, all the blood having rushed out of them long ago.

The lashes, though, those were keeping her awake. Momoko couldn't tell what she was being struck with; all she knew was that it was thin and firm and flexible and that it stung when it bit into her flesh. If she was lucky, Pluie would aim poorly and hit her hair instead of any other part of her body, and it would cushion the blow. This had only happened twice so far, but she constantly wished it would happen again. She couldn't tell how many she'd taken, and truthfully didn't want to know. The majority of them, though, had landed on her sides, stomach, and lower back.

As Momoko felt another lash strike her hard, she could barely muster a whimper, let alone another scream. Already her throat was starting to hurt from screaming too much. But this surely had to mean that she was close to passing out, right?

"You're not going to sleep on me, are you, girl?" Pluie sneered, his words sort of running together into one long unintelligable murmur to Momoko, "We're just going to have to find a way to wake you up, then." She felt his fingers close around her jaw again, their grip tightening dangerously. Momoko began to whimper as the fresh pain brought her sharply back to her senses. Fear flashed through her mind as she heard something pop inside her ear; if he kept this up, her jaw would definitely break.

Unable to hold back any longer, Momoko's whimper became a full-fledged scream as she tried to twist her head to get away from Pluie's grip. She failed in her efforts, causing frustrated tears to slide down her face.

"Oi," a familiar voice called from somewhere else in the room, "'M'I interrupting something?" The fingers around Momoko's jaw relaxed before leaving her altogether, causing her to sob in relief and hang her head limply to her chest. Momoko barely even acknowledged the light coming from the direction of the door.

"Yes," Pluie snarled, clearly displeased at having been disturbed, "What do you want?" Momoko let her eyes drift open and attempted to focus them on the floor. There were small puddles of something reflecting the light from the door up at her. Was that her blood?

"I have a job for the angel," the voice stated calmly, "When she didn't come to pick up my trash this morning, I decided to check up on her. She busy?" Momoko felt like she should know who this was, but couldn't quite place the voice. She looked up, but the light hurt her eyes a bit and all she could make out was the figure of someone leaning against the doorframe. She whimpered in frustration.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she is," Pluie replied smartly, "Come back later, Viento." Momoko's eyes snapped open and her heart almost skipped a beat. Was he going to help her?

"Viento-sama?" she called, almost choking on her tears as she looked up. As she watched, he pushed himself away from the doorframe and actually stepped into the room toward them. He walked over to them slowly, almost swaggering, and coming into better focus as he did so. When Momoko saw the look on his face, though, she suddenly felt very cold all over. It wasn't pleasant at all; on the contrary, he looked furious. Momoko stared at him, transfixed. Was this what Jama-P had meant when he said that he and his tribe were dangerous?

"What are you looking at, little girl?" he hissed, causing Momoko to whimper again, "You think I'm cute or somethin'? And who said you could talk to me like that?" Momoko shut her eyes as she began to cry with frustration and confusion. Why was he acting like this now? He had been so kind to her last night! Now he was starting to frighten her more than Pluie had.

Suddenly, Momoko heard a thick 'pop' and felt her head jerk violently to the left. She cried out, not because it had hurt, but out of surprise. Had Viento slapped her? She honestly couldn't tell; she hadn't even felt an impact. Whether he had or hadn't, though, she didn't dare look back up at him now.

"Let me have her," she heard Viento growl, "I'm not going to let some little bitch disrespect me like that." Momoko whimpered again in fright as she held her body rigid, waiting for whatever they were going to do to her next. Listening to him talk like that hurt worse than being beaten, though. She had wanted so badly to believe she could trust him.

"Why should I?" Pluie responded defiantly, "Maybe I'm not done with her yet." Now they were arguing over who got to punish her? If she wasn't in so much pain, Momoko might have been tempted to marvel at her own lousy luck.

"If I have to wait," Viento went on, that angry edge still palpable in his voice, "I'm not going to be as pissed off when I finally get her. Besides, it looks like you've already had your fun with her." Momoko thought she heard Pluie make some sound of disgust before speaking again.

"Of course, you have your limitations, half," he said, his tone sharp, "Fine. Get her out of here - I'm sick of looking at her, anyway." Suddenly, the force supporting Momoko dispersed, causing her to fall and slam into the cold tile floor with her knees. The force of the impact caused her to cry out again and bite back another sob. What was worse, as soon as Momoko's arms fell in front of her, she could tell that she couldn't feel or move them. It would take a few minutes to regain feeling in them; until then, they were bound to burn and sting. She almost dreaded that worse than whatever was going to happen to her next.

"Give me that," she heard Viento bark the order, not fully aware of what he was talking about. A second later, though, he'd grabbed her left wrist, pulling her arm out painfully and unwinding the leash from around it. Before she could do anything else, he had clipped it to her collar and was dragging her to her feet with it.

"Stand up," he said firmly, giving the leash another tug, "Don't make me do it for you." That was more than enough motivation to get Momoko moving a bit faster. She felt terribly unsteady on her feet, though, having been suspended in mid-air for the past several minutes, let alone having been dropped to her knees from that position. Wincing, she hoped nothing had been pulled, popped, or broken.

"Let's go," Viento ordered, pulling her forward. Momoko stumbled behind him, careful to look at the floor, or at the most the hem of his cape. She didn't think she could look him in the face now even if she had to; it would hurt too much. As the door to Pluie's room snapped shut behind them, Momoko realized that the thought of being alone with Viento had lost all of its glamour entirely. Now the idea only filled her with cold, paralyzing terror.

As she followed him, head down and face wet, she wondered if Scarlet had been right after all. Her red-headed friend had long maintained that all of the demon race were inherently evil and definitely not to be trusted. It had taken her months to get used to Jama-P when she'd first met him. That thought made Momoko bite back a gasp; had Jama-P made it back to their room alright? The worry for her friend compounded with the feeling of betrayal that had been gnawing at Momoko, causing her heart and head to hurt. If anything happened to Jama-P, she didn't know what she'd do.

So lost in thought was she that she didn't even notice when Viento stopped after a few paces. Dazed, Momoko kept walking after he'd stopped. Fortunately, she was going at a slow enough pace that when she finally realized that he was no longer moving forward, she was able to stop just shy of running into him. Momoko caught her breath as she looked at Viento's back. Surely he'd punish her if she touched him? That was definitely a close call.

Momoko barely noticed, then, when Viento turned to one of the lockers and tapped it with his foot.

"Oi," he called quietly, ignoring the angel behind him entirely. For her part, Momoko never took her eyes off the middle of his back. She thought she heard the sound of a locker opening, though, and a second later, felt something moving in the hair hanging down over her back.

"Peach-chama," a familiar and reassuring voice whispered from behind Momoko. Jama-P! He was okay! Momoko wanted to turn around and hug him, but didn't dare move for fear of provoking Viento again. And as if to reinforce her anxiety, Viento glared at the two of them from over his shoulder.

"Quiet," he barked in a whisper. To say Momoko was confused would have been an understatement. She was utterly and completely dumbfounded. She felt a tug on her collar and began walking again, the questions spinning through her head and combining with the motion to make her dizzy. What did this mean, anyway? Viento was going to punish her, but he was going to allow Jama-P to stay with her? Could it be because Jama-P was a demon? Maybe he'd decided to join them again and that was why Viento hadn't turned him in? Or maybe Viento was just being cruel to her because she was an angel?

By the time they reached the door to the stairs at the far end of the hall, Momoko's head was absolutely spinning. She wasn't sure at all if she could make it down a flight without tripping all over herself. Even worse, as she moved her arms in front of her to clasp her hands together, the painful reality that the blood was rushing back into them hit her. The feeling of them waking up as she moved them caused her to wince and whimper a bit. As soon as the sound escaped her mouth, though, she regretted it.

Much to Momoko's surprise, however, Viento didn't even look back at her. Instead, he opened the door to the stairwell. He held it open for a few long moments as Momoko looked on, confused. Maybe he hadn't heard her before, but what was he doing now? She didn't want to look up at his face to find an answer; instead, she stepped quickly through the door and stood to the side so that Viento could let it fall shut.

They stood there in silence for a few more moments before Viento began to head down the stairs. Carefully and steadily, Momoko took one step at a time, holding onto the handrail for extra support. The extra motion caused her wounds to sting a bit more, in turn causing her to gasp and whine a bit with each step. Finally, though, they made it to the first landing.

Again, Viento stopped abruptly. He stared straight ahead, not turning to regard Momoko at all. That was just fine with her, really; she didn't want to face him again now. The memory of his angry face lanced her again. Why did it bother her so much?

"Do you understand why I hit you, Peach?" he asked, his voice completely even. Momoko blinked, taken aback a bit, but didn't look up. She stared squarely at his back. Was he trying to rub salt in her wounds now? She fought the urge to cry as she formulated what she thought would be an acceptable answer.

"Yes, Viento-sama," she said softly, looking down at the floor now, "It was because I misbehaved." Viento turned to look at her, causing Momoko to flinch a bit as he did. His hand shot out towards her face. Momoko closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting to be struck.

An impact was not forthcoming, however. What Momoko felt instead was a warm hand on her cheek, forcing her face up. She resisted a bit at first, still too frightened to look up until she realized what that gesture meant. Her heart in her throat, Momoko opened her eyes and looked up at Viento.

"Cut the formal crap, Peach, and look at me," he said firmly, his face concerned, "That's not it." Momoko stared at him, completely at a loss for words or thoughts. What had happened, then? Was he not really angry with her? He wasn't going to punish her? Momoko thought she might cry again, this time from sheer confusion.

"Then why..." she began, not even really sure what questions to ask at this point, "Why did you...?" The strangely comforting hand left her face and Viento looked as though he was becoming impatient with her. It didn't matter much to Momoko, though; it wasn't like he was making any sense, anyway!

"Did you really think Pluie was just gonna let you go if I asked him nicely?" he answered, "Do you know what kind of trouble I could get into if he thought I wasn't going to hurt you?" Momoko did remember Pluie saying something about Viento not having been a good teacher to her. Was that what he was talking about? Still, the whole thing made her head hurt.

"You didn't have to be so mean about it," she said softly, pouting a bit as she looked away. But still, did that mean the whole thing was an act back there? It had seemed so real, though - he'd been so angry. The memory of it gave her chills. Momoko failed to notice the irritated look the real person in front of her was giving her, though.

"I was trying to save you, stupid!" Viento finally blurted out, "I couldn't have done it if I hadn't been 'mean'! Don't tell me you thought I was serious!" Momoko focused on him again, the look on his face still vaguely concerned as well as totally incredulous. Tears of relief and anger began to sting her eyes as her face turned red.

"You... You..." she stammered, bringing her stinging hands to her mouth and squeezing her eyes shut, "You big jerk! Of course I thought you were serious! What was I supposed to think?! You... You scared me!" By the time she was finished, Momoko had begun crying uncontrollably. She didn't care if it made her look awful or if it made Viento uncomfortable (which he certainly seemed to be at the moment). She actually figured it served him right for having tricked her like that earlier.

"Shh!" Viento tried to quieten her, making 'hushing' motions with his hands, "Not here, okay? Wait 'til we're alone! Be quiet! Someone will hear!" Momoko stifled her sobs a bit, wiping her eyes with her now-fully-awake hands. She nodded, her lips pressed together as she hiccuped.

"So..." she began again, swallowing and trying to keep her voice down, "The whole thing was just acting?" She looked up at the brunette expectantly, wanting to be reassured one more time, as if everything had just been one long bad dream. Viento looked at her sheepishly, his earlier apprehension gone as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well..." Momoko felt a stab of panic upon hearing the way he drew out the word. Did that mean that some part of what had just happened was real? If so, which part? "I actually do have work for you to do," Viento answered her unasked question, "That part was true."


	5. Disciplinary Actions

**Warnings:** Alt universe, het (Viento/Peach), dark, ANGST, violence, gore, bondage. If you find spankings upsetting, avert thine eyes now.

**Disclaimer:** I really wasn't kidding about the beatings and spankings, you know. These characters belong to numerous Japanese publishing entities, such as Sukehiro Tomita, Nao Yazawa, Tenyu, and Shogakukun. You'll notice how none of those are me. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.

**Author's Note:** First of all, I'd like to apologize to the people who've read and reviewed faithfully over the past couple years. First of all, I doubt I'll be continuing this - the spark, she has died. Which makes me really sad, because I love this story, I just can't figure out how to continue it. Second of all, I had this chapter sitting on my LJ for the past three years or so and somehow thought I'd uploaded it to ... but _hadn't_. It doesn't provide any closure, but hopefully it's good and long enough to make up for it!

**Feedback:** No, really - spankings. ~ hit the review button!

Broken Wings: Chapter Five

Disciplinary Actions

by Crystal Dawn Phoenix

"This is it?"

Momoko was totally incredulous. The room Viento had taken her and Jama-P to was right in the middle of the north wing on the first floor. It was also a total and complete wreck.

"What?" Viento asked, seemingly oblivious to whatever problems Momoko had with the task at hand, "You know what room this is, right?" If Momoko hadn't figured out where she was from her time as a student at Saint Hanazono, all of the pots, pans, and other dishes on the floor and counters would have definitely clued her in by now.

"Of course I do," she said, "This is the kitchen. But... You want me to clean all of this by myself?" It really did seem like an impossible task. The kitchen itself was by no means a small room, and every inch of it was covered in filth, grime, and cooking implements. Momoko didn't think that if she worked all day for the next week that she could even uncover the floor. She figured that it had been trashed when the demons took over the school; since they didn't need it, there was no reason for any of them to clean it, right?

"That's the general idea, yeah," Viento replied calmly, "Of course, if you wanted to refuse, I'd let you." The way he was smiling told Momoko that there was a catch.

"I thought I couldn't refuse orders," she said slowly and suspiciously. Besides, why would he want her to clean a kitchen, anyway? He didn't really need human food, right? This didn't entirely make sense.

"You can if I say you can," he said simply, "I don't think anyone else will let you, though." From the tone of his voice, it sounded as though Viento expected Momoko to praise him for his generosity. In a way, she knew he was actually being pretty lenient with her; there was no way any of the other demons would let her turn down a task. Still, she didn't expect it to be that simple.

"Okay, then," she finally replied, having decided to test him, "I don't want to do this." Momoko folded her arms and stuck her chin out. She snuck a peek at Viento from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be taking that in stride.

"Well, if that's the way you really feel," he said nonchalantly, looking off into the filthy kitchen, "I guess I can take you back to Pluie's room since I don't have any other work for you." Momoko almost hiccuped. So that was his game. How unfair!

"No, no! That's okay! I'll do this instead!" she quickly amended, waving her hands in front of her. "Still," Momoko went on, her voice a little more downbeat, "That's not much of a choice." It hurt a little that he'd tease her like that. Momoko hadn't had much of a choice in anything she'd had to do recently.

"If you had any real objections to it, I'd let you say no," Viento said, suddenly becoming a bit sterner, "Besides, I'd rather have you cleaning here for the next couple of days until you heal as to have you out getting into more trouble." Momoko felt her face heat up as she looked down at the litter-strewn floor. She had misunderstood him again. The way Viento's mind worked was starting to confuse her; there was no way she'd ever be able to figure out what he was thinking.

It also made her feel uneasy to think that he was being that protective of her. On the one hand, it was patronizing and made her feel a bit stupid, like he didn't trust her to take care of herself. He seemed to almost be treating her like a pet now. Momoko also couldn't get the image of him in Pluie's room out of her mind; she felt strange being alone with him now, almost as if she was afraid of him.

But on the other hand, it was undoubtedly flattering that he thought so much of her. Aside from that, Momoko was definitely aware that it was far more dangerous for her to wander around the school on her own than to be in one place for a few days. And the incident with Pluie notwithstanding, Momoko still felt much safer with Viento than without him. The fact that such a powerful person was watching out for her was oddly comforting.

"Well, if you don't have any other objections," Viento said cheerily, "This place isn't going to clean itself!" As if to punctuate his sentence, Viento clapped Momoko soundly on the back, somehow missing the yellow Ojama that had made himself at home in her hair. Momoko barely managed to bite back a scream, the impact causing the wounds on her back to sting. Instead, she let out a sharp gasp and a sob as she shut her eyes in pain.

"Sorry!" Viento apologized quickly, his voice clearly concerned, "Are you okay?" His hand withdrew from her back so quickly that she thought he could have been burned. He wasn't mocking her this time, and for that Momoko was thankful; he really was worried about her.

"It hurts," she said softly, cracking her eyes open. It wasn't a lie; ever since her arms had woken back up, Momoko's mind had been able to focus entirely on the cuts and bruises on her back. She was also vaguely aware that her robe had been ripped in a few places in the back, as she could feel the air on her skin.

"We should take care of this before you start cleaning," Viento said, his voice becoming quiet and serious, "Otherwise, it might get infected." Momoko idly thought that it was odd that a demon would think of that; did their wounds get infected? The gentle hand on her shoulder brought Momoko out of her thoughts as Viento began to lead her into the messy room.

"Careful where you step," he warned Momoko, leading her over a few pots and pans, "Let's have you sit over here." Viento seemed to be referring to an overturned stove that had a few pots laying on it in various states of disarray. As they reached the appliance, Viento kicked the dishes off, causing them to make loud clattering noises as they hit the floor and whatever was laying in it.

As Momoko seated herself gingerly on the cool metal surface, Jama-P emerged from her hair. He bobbed in the air beside her for a few moments before Viento reached around to unfasten the leash from Momoko's collar. His closeness had just begun to make her nervous when he pulled away again, taking the black leather strap with him.

"This will only get in the way," he said quietly before speaking up again, "Okay, you need to move your hair so I can get a good look at your back." Momoko did as she was told, pulling her hair over one shoulder so that her back was now open to the air. As she did so, Jama-P came to rest beside her on the stove, looking up at Momoko and the demon that was now standing behind her.

"You better be careful-pi," Jama-P warned, only sounding half-irritated this time. Momoko figured he'd gone to find Viento to get her out of Pluie's room earlier. She found herself hoping that Jama-P would be a little less hostile to Viento for that from now on.

"I know that!" Viento replied smartly, tugging a bit at the back of Momoko's robe as he did so, "Geez, I did what you asked - you'd think you'd lay off me already!" Momoko wanted to shake her head; why was a demon lord bothering to be defensive with an Ojama? Then again, why would a demon lord bother treating the wounds on her back? She decided she'd be better off just not wondering about it.

"That doesn't mean-pi that I trust you yet!" Jama-P shot back, surprising Momoko a little, "I still think you might do something bad-pi to Peach-chama!" This was starting to make Momoko a bit uncomfortable. She didn't want the two of them to start fighting over her. Actually, she wished they would both get along with each other, if for no other reason than that Jama-P's life really was in Viento's hands.

"Jama-P," Momoko said softly, chiding him a bit, "It's okay. He's not going to hurt me. Right?" She laid a hand on Jama-P's head and looked over her shoulder at Viento expectantly. The look she got in return was a look of disbelief.

"Of course I'm not!" he blustered, his face turning a bit pink in the process, "If I were going to hurt you, I'd have done it already!" Momoko realized that he was right - he'd had plenty of opportunities so far to be cruel to her - but felt a little more timid because he'd put it that way. Did that mean he really would have hurt her at some point? Momoko heard him cluck his tongue behind her as he tugged again on her robe.

"This isn't working," he said softly. There was a nearly-audible pause as Momoko waited for him to speak again; she could tell he was almost nervous about what he was going to say next. "Could you... umm..." he began, his hands leaving her back, "Would it be, uhh, possible for you to... umm... uhh... I mean... Could you take the top of that off?"

Momoko's breath came out hard through her nose and throat, almost causing her to spit. In a reflexive motion, her arms came up to cover her chest. She could tell that her face had turned bright red as she spun around to face Viento. The motion made her wounds ache a bit again, but she dismissed it immediately; there were more important matters at hand!

"What?!" It was Momoko's turn to yell at him now. "You nasty letch! Pervert! I'm not stripping for you!" She noticed that Viento's face had turned a deeper scarlet color than hers; he also seemed to be purposely avoiding looking at her now, his eyes focused on something on the far side of the room. As she yelled, though, she saw his expression get steadily angrier and a small tick flickering at the corner of his eye. Finally, he turned to glare at her.

"It's not like I wanna see what you got, you flat-chested, turtle-brained idiot!" he fired back, causing Momoko to recoil in shock as he turned again to look at the far wall, his voice growing calmer as he did so, "I can't get to your cuts because of that dress. So... if you're not hurt anywhere else, go ahead and take the top off." Momoko shrank behind her arms. He couldn't be serious.

"You're not going to look, are you?" she asked warily, her arms not leaving her chest. When she was answered with a weary sigh, Momoko turned her back to Viento and looked down. "Okay," she finally conceded, slowly undoing the rope at her waist, "Don't turn around."

Momoko unwound the roped that had been criss-crossed around her waist, laying it gently over her lap and being careful not to let the clay bottle of rice she'd looped onto it fall. With the binding loose, she slipped the wide straps at the top over her shoulders one at a time, baring them as she pulled her arms free of the circles of cloth. As the cloth was pushed down over her breasts, revealing a lacy white bra, it pulled away from the already half-dried cuts on Momoko's back. She whimpered as the dried blood that had soaked into the fabric of her robe came away from the cuts, causing them to weep and sting again.

"You okay?" Viento asked as soon as she'd made a noise. From the sound of his voice, Momoko could tell that he'd turned towards her back again. As her heart pounded, she told herself that he had to if he was going to clean her up. She tugged the top of the robe the rest of the way down around her waist, breaking it free of the last of the dried blood. As she did so, she bit her bottom lip, trying to contain a sob.

"I think so," she finally said softly, realizing that her eyes were damp now, "It had started to dry onto my back, that's all." Viento's fingers lightly touched a part of her back that hadn't been struck. As he gently ran his fingers over some of the wounds, Momoko found her arms creeping back up to protect her chest again. She drew her knees up, using them as a pillow to rest her cheek on, circling her arms around them instead.

"This looks pretty bad," Viento remarked, "I don't mean to scare you, but... it kinda looks like he wanted to leave marks. It doesn't look like it'll need sewn together, though." Momoko felt her heart sink. On top of everything else, she was going to have scars now, too? At least they'd be in an unnoticeable place, though.

"So you think it'll scar?" she asked, almost talking into her knees. It was getting hard to contain the tears now. A small change in air current served as a distraction for a moment. Momoko figured Viento had made something appear right behind her.

"Hope not," he replied, picking something up that made a sloshing noise, "I know how you girls get about scars." There was a small pause before he amended that statement. "Well... human girls, anyway," he said hurriedly, "I guess, I mean, I wouldn't know for sure, but... they don't like them, right? They think they make 'em ugly or somethin'. I guess angel girls are the same way, right?" A small smile formed on Momoko's face as she let her eyes drift shut. As upsetting as the situation was, there was something about listening to a demon lord getting flustered that was almost... cute.

"Pretty much, yeah," she said with a little sigh, "As far as I know, anyway. I was raised as a human." More sloshing acted as another welcome distraction. It kept her from being bothered by how warm her cheeks were becoming.

"M-umm, I mean, really?" Viento asked, sounding like he hadn't said what he was originally going to say. Momoko decided not to press the issue, instead realizing that he was trying to take her mind off of her wounds. Before she could say anything else, though, she felt a washcloth with a cold fluid on it touch her back. As the liquid touched her open cuts, they began to burn and sting. Momoko hissed a bit and buried her face in her knees, hugging her legs tight.

"It's okay, it's just peroxide," Viento said softly, dabbing at her wounds gingerly, "If it stings, that means it's working. These cuts will definitely scar if we don't clean them off first." Momoko knew he was right, but that didn't keep a few tears from making their way over her face.

"So you think you can keep it from scarring?" she asked meekly, having nothing better to talk about and being slightly disturbed by the silence.

"I won't make any guarantees," he said, still rubbing her back with the washcloth, "But it doesn't matter if you have scars or not. You'll still be pretty." Momoko's eyes opened in mild shock upon hearing that. Her heart beat hard and her cheeks began to warm again. He had just said she was pretty. Since when did demons say things like that earnestly? It was confusing and almost frightening.

"Huh?" she managed to say as she looked over her shoulder at Viento. For his part, he seemed pretty intent on cleaning her back. At the sound of her voice, though, it seemed to dawn on him that he'd slipped and said something untoward.

"What I mean is, uhh," he began, his face coloring again as he dutifully moved the washcloth over Momoko's back, "Y'know, you shouldn't worry about such stupid things. You're just, y'know, you're not the kind of girl that scars would look good on. They'd look pretty cool on a tough demon girl, but not you... Know what I'm sayin'?" If Momoko had felt uncomfortable before, the feeling had disappeared entirely upon listening to Viento stumble over his own words again like that. She smiled again, almost wanting to laugh this time.

"I guess so," she said quietly, laying her head on her knees again. Momoko let her eyes fall shut again as she smiled. Aside from the stinging the peroxide was causing, it felt good to have Viento clean her back. His hands were gentle and warm, not at all the way she'd imagined a demon's hands would feel like - and definitely not the way she remembered Pluie's hands feeling. It made her feel safe, and a little sleepy.

"I'm going to put some antibiotic cream on it, okay?" Momoko made a small noise of approval, barely even registering what he'd said. Instead, she hazily realized that Viento's voice sounded very familiar for a moment. For a moment, she thought he was someone else entirely, someone she hadn't seen in years; she couldn't quite place the voice with a face, though. That moment of sleepy confusion ended as soon as she felt a cold dab of cream on her back.

Momoko squeaked, jumping a bit from the sudden cold. "Is it cold?" Viento asked, spreading the ointment over the wounds. Momoko repressed a shiver.

"A little," she replied meekly as he continued. She could feel her cheeks warming again; the cold actually felt really good on her back.

"Stay still," he said, his hands leaving her back again, "I'm going to bandage you up, and then you'll be done." Momoko waited, unmoving, for his hands to return. When she realized that was what she was waiting for, she turned her face to hide it with her knees. What in the world was she thinking? Her friends would kill her!

"After this, you should go and start your lunch," Viento continued, the sound of tape being pulled from its roll reaching Momoko's ears, "It'll take a while for the rice to boil, so it'll be ready in time for you to take a break around noon." Momoko felt the tape being stuck to her skin before a strip of cloth underneath it was stretched out and pressed against her cuts. It didn't hurt, but the antibiotic did make the bandages feel squishy.

"Okay," she replied weakly, trying to ignore how fast her heart was beating. Really, she chided herself, she was being silly. There was no reason at all to get worked up over this.

"You want me to come with you?" Viento asked, sticking another strip of medical tape to Momoko's back, "I don't want you to get into any trouble." Momoko hugged her knees a little tighter; as appealing as it sounded, she really did want to get away from him for a few minutes to straighten her head out.

"No, it's okay," she said softly, not really sounding all that convinced. In truth, she wasn't convinced at all - part of her mind was yelling at her to take the offer and let him go with her. The other, more sensible part was telling her to get out for a breath of air for a moment, so that everything would make more sense.

"You sure?" Viento pressed on, apparently unaware of the internal battle being waged a few centimeters away, "You look like the type that would get lost in her own closet." Just like that, Momoko didn't have to worry about being torn anymore.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, irritated, turning to cast an almost-angry glare back at him. Momoko received a smirk in return.

"Well, it's true," he replied, feigning innocence, "I don't know how you've lived this long without someone to watch out for you." Momoko felt him fasten another piece of tape to her back before she turned away from him again, cheeks puffing out in a huff as she did so.

"I don't need you to watch out for me," she said irritably, almost pouting, "I'm not helpless." She received a pat on the back for her trouble.

"Well, you're all done," Viento went on, his tone amused, "And you could've fooled me. You've not even been here a day and you've already been beaten once." Momoko didn't really appreciate him making jokes about it. Besides that, he was just beginning to annoy her again in general.

"That's not funny," she pouted, actually meaning it. Viento turned away, his back now facing hers.

"Ahh, sorry, then," he said softly, "Go ahead and get dressed. You sure you'll be okay without me?" Momoko's expression lightened as she let her feet slowly descend to the floor. Maybe he didn't mean to be so abrasive? As she began to pull her sleeves back up over her arms, Momoko wondered if it was just in his nature to tease people and be rude; there were certainly humans like that, too.

"I'll be fine," she said, perhaps a bit more stiffly than she'd have liked. She began criss-crossing the rope she used as a belt around her waist again, leaving the little clay bottle off this time. Momoko figured she could carry it in her hands with her back to her room.

"You better be," Viento returned, a smile almost audible, "If you get into any more trouble, I'll punish you myself... and you don't want that. You've only got one more strike left from last night, remember?" Momoko blinked. She had nearly forgotten about that!

"I thought you'd reset them at the end of the day?" she said timidly, hoping he'd drop the other two. How would he punish her, anyway?

"Nope," he replied succinctly, "I'm still counting." That made Momoko feel a little more down-hearted.

"But then I'd be getting punished twice," she nearly whined, "Once by whoever stops me, and again by you!" She turned to face Viento, her face plaintive. He was still idly watching one of the walls.

"Hmm, that's true, isn't it?" he said calmly, "I guess that means you'd better not let anyone find a reason to stop you, huh?" His calmness was beginning to make Momoko angry. Was he trying to convince her to ask for him to accompany her? She decided that she wasn't going to back down. Instead, she stood, closing her eyes and lifting her face.

"Fine, then," she snapped, "I won't!" As she began to step over and around the various pieces of junk on the floor, Viento took notice of the noise and stood as well.

"Oi," he called, his tone firm, "Before you go, come here for a second." Momoko stopped and turned slowly towards him. He sounded so serious. Had she made him mad? When she saw his face, though, she knew that his tone came more from concern than anger.

"W-what?" Momoko asked softly, looking up at him as she carefully stepped over. Viento cocked his head to the side, looking at her thoughtfully before bringing a hand up to her left cheek. Momoko winced as he gently pressed his thumb against her face, the pressure causing a bit of pain.

"That hurt?" he asked, moving his thumb over and doing it again. It took all of Momoko's self-restraint not to retreat from the stinging.

"Yes!" she said, tears almost forming in her eyes. What was he doing to her, anyway?

"The other side doesn't hurt, does it?" Viento went on, still sounding a bit concerned. Momoko thought for a moment; she hadn't felt anything on the other side. She brought a hand to the right side of her face, preferring to feel for whatever might have been there herself than to have him do it.

"No," she whispered shakily. Viento exhaled audibly and began to smile, a real smile this time. What did that mean?

"That's good," he said quietly, "That means I didn't hurt you when I slapped you. I was trying to pull my punch, but I wasn't sure how well I did it. This side, though... The skin's not broken, so that's good. It's gonna be one helluva bruise, though. A little bit higher and you'd have had a black eye."

Momoko's eyes widened as she remembered being slapped by Pluie. He'd managed to bruise her face? She looked back to the floor shyly, not wanting to look at Viento for too long; she was starting to feel self-conscious again. At least it was only a bruise, she reminded herself. The idea of having it wasn't very appealing, but at least it was better than what was on her back.

Momoko looked up suddenly to realize that Viento was very close, staring right at her, and not taking his hand from her face. It looked as though he was thinking hard about something, like he was confused. Momoko noticed her heart speeding up again; what did she expect to happen? The idea that she was expecting anything at all made her want to run.

Her discomfort got the better of her, causing Momoko to take a jerky, too-quick step backwards. With all the debris and loose utensils on the floor, she lost her footing; squealing, Momoko pitched backwards sharply, her feet almost flying out from under her.

"Peach!" Viento exclaimed, his arm flashing out to catch her, causing Momoko to be suspended about half a meter above the litter-strewn floor. As he pulled her back to a standing position, Momoko realized that he'd wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, his face a mixture of confusion, irritation, and relief. Momoko simply stared back at him, wide-eyed.

"Me?!" she finally squawked, indignantly regaining her footing as her face flushed again, "What are_ you_ doing?!" She squirmed away from him, steady on her feet again. Viento raised an eyebrow, his face incredulous.

"Keeping you from falling all over yourself, apparently," he said flatly, "You really are hopeless, you know that?" As she turned her back to him, Momoko began to seethe. He was trying to confuse her on purpose, wasn't he?

"And you're a jerk!" she yelled, huffing as she stomped across the dirty floor towards the door.

"Peach-chama, wait for me!" Jama-P called after her, floating into the air as Momoko slammed the door behind her. Viento simply shook his head with a sigh as Jama-P disappeared to the other side of the door.

Jama-P appeared on the other side of the kitchen door only to find Momoko leaning against the cafeteria wall, her hands separating her back from the plaster. She looked a bit forlorn as she stared at the floor.

"It's not fair," she said quietly, having realized Jama-P was there, "He's flirting with me. He's too nice. It's... scary."

__________________________________________________

After taking far longer than was actually necessary to go back to her room and start the rice for lunch, Momoko finally made her way back to the kitchen to begin work. Much as she expected, Viento was still there; he'd managed to make himself comfortable on one of the countertops. When Momoko reentered the room, he was reclining against one of the walls, leisurely looking out a window, his legs crossed at the knees and his arms acting as a pillow behind his head.

He said nothing about her extended absence - or anything else, really. Momoko thought she might have hurt his feelings. She worked in silence as he vaguely paid attention to her, turning to watch every so often before becoming distracted by whatever was happening outside the window again.

After what Momoko guessed must have been the second hour, he finally spoke. Momoko was secretly grateful that he wanted to break the silence; it had started to make her nervous long ago.

"Hey, Peach," Viento said, still looking out the window as he spoke.

"Hmm?" Momoko tried to reply as cheerfully as possible. She really did feel bad about snapping at him earlier, especially with as sad as it had seemed to make him.

"You said you were raised as a human, right?" he asked, causing Momoko to look up from the stack of pots she was trying to find a spare place for.

"Yeah," Momoko replied, placing the pots in the floor and pausing to wipe a bit of sweat from her forehead. It was really starting to heat up as it neared midday. "I didn't realize I was part angel until right before the last war ended." Viento turned to look at her, his expression curious.

"So you're only half angel, huh?" he asked. Momoko gave him a sheepish smile.

"Well, yeah," she said, resting for a moment as she leaned her elbows against the countertop, "Papa was human. Mama got in a fight with a really powerful demon and got knocked to Earth. It caused her to lose all of her angel memories. Then she met Papa and they got married and had me." Momoko glanced over at Viento. She expected to see him look confused or like he was listening. Instead, he was smiling.

"That sounds familiar," he said, amused. Was he teasing her again? Momoko was prepared to let him know that it wasn't funny if he was. "I think I heard a story like that before, only it was about a demon." Momoko blinked. Was it possible that the same thing could've happened to a demon? Or was it just a rumor or a folk story?

"Do you think it's true?" Momoko asked, leaning forward on her arms. Momoko could've sworn she saw Viento's face color a bit as he turned back toward the window.

"Nah, it's only a story," he said, quickly dismissing the idea. After thinking for a second, he spoke up again. "I mean, I'm sure it's happened somewhere," he amended, "But I wouldn't know anything about it." Momoko suspected he was lying, but couldn't exactly tell what about. The idea that he might have been talking about himself struck her; what if Viento had a human wife and a child somewhere? Momoko felt a shameful flash of jealousy for a second before another thought crossed her mind. She couldn't suppress a smile as she thought of a baby boy with hair bigger than his head, a huge set of shoulder guards and a cape.

"What are you snickering at?" Viento asked, sounding more playful than angry. Momoko quickly covered her mouth as she realized she'd started giggling.

"You don't... have any children," she asked between stifled laughs, "Do you, Viento-sama?" He gave her a look of disbelief as his face got a little redder.

"Of course not!" he blurted out, convincing Momoko that she'd embarrassed him, "I told you that was only a story!" Momoko couldn't resist bursting into full-fledged laughter at that point. She leaned into the counter, laying her head in her arms to try and dampen the noise. When she was finally done, she lifted her head back up and took a deep breath; she was sure Viento was going to be mad, but his reaction was too funny for Momoko to worry too much about it.

"I'm... sorry," she said between gasps of air. Well, it was half-true; she was only sorry he didn't think it was as funny as she did. Viento gave an exasperated sigh.

"What I was _going_ to say," Viento said, trying to sound stern, "Is that human children want to do certain jobs when they grow up, right?" Momoko blinked; that was an odd question.

"Yeah, that's right," she said, turning to lean against the counter as she looked at him quizzically. Was he curious about humans? "Is it the same with demons?" Momoko asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. It had become apparent to her the night before that she really didn't know anything about the way demons lived. Maybe Viento would tell her?

"I... well... not really," he replied, obviously caught off-guard, "We're taught to fight and... I guess that's it. All we're ever really trained to be are warriors. The tougher and more powerful you are, the better off you are." Momoko nodded, trying to straighten out everything he'd just said in her mind. So the demons' social order was based on their ability in combat?

"So I guess that means," she said slowly, "That you're really strong." Viento looked a little embarrassed at this observation.

"Yeah, you could say that," he said sheepishly, "I did a lot of fighting in the last war. I don't really remember it, but that's what I've been told." Momoko felt a bit guilty at this admission; she was sure that what he meant by 'a lot of fighting' was actually that he'd killed a lot of angels. It seemed so strange to her. The person sitting on the counter now with the unassuming look on his face was actually a dangerous killer. Still, he had gone out of his way to help her since she'd arrived. What exactly did that mean, anyway? Was he trying to make up for something he'd done?

"It must be hard," Momoko said softly, "Only being raised to fight. That's kind of a... sad existence." It really did seem that way to her, now that she thought about it. What did they do with the demons who were too old to fight anymore? Or with the ones that just weren't good at fighting?

"It's not so bad," Viento responded, sounding a bit distracted, "Anyway, it looks like it bugs you, so let's talk about something else. _While you clean_." Momoko started a bit, realizing that she'd stopped longer than she'd intended to. She rubbed the back of her head, laughing shakily as she bent down to start collecting good pots again.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, feeling chastised, "What do you want to talk about?" The smile quickly returned to Viento's face as he turned again to look at Momoko.

"So, what I'd wanted to ask you was," he replied without missing a beat, "Since you were raised as a human, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Momoko placed one pot inside another and looked up curiously at Viento. He really could be adorable when he wanted to be, she thought with a smile.

"Well, since Papa was a photographer, I kind of wanted to be one, too," Momoko answered happily, "But more than that, I always wanted to be a bride. I guess I won't get to do either now, though." She smiled sadly for a second before she went back to moving some different pots. The idea that she wasn't going to do anything else with her life returned, the memory causing Momoko to feel suddenly very downcast.

"A bride?" Viento asked, a smirk audible in his voice, "Doesn't a bride have to have someone to marry? You got a boyfriend back in the Angel World?" Momoko could've sworn he sounded too snide to just be asking out of idle curiosity. Was he jealous?

"N-no," she answered, embarrassment causing her voice to quiver a bit, "I've never had a boyfriend before." She could feel her face burn as she stared intently into the pots she was stacking.

"Then who did you want to marry?" Viento asked, sounding a bit more relaxed. Momoko still didn't want to look at him; instead she found herself laughing nervously.

"Well, ummm," Momoko started, not really sure if she should tell him at all, "I used to have a big crush on the captain of the school's soccer team. It was really silly, now that I look back on it. I bet he's not even alive now." Over the past three years, Yanagiba-senpai had become something like a shared comfort between Momoko and her friends. His memory always seemed to symbolize a happier time to them and to bring them comfort when they were feeling down. It felt kind of weird to share a part of that with Viento.

But there was another memory that Momoko had kept to herself, one that she didn't even share with her friends. Maybe they knew anyway, because they had always teased her about it before everything bad happened. Now they never spoke of him at all. She realized then that she had always wanted to talk to someone about him, even if her friends thought that not mentioning him would spare her feelings.

"There..." Momoko began again, forcing her voice to come out, "There was another boy that I kind of liked. He was on the soccer team, too. Pluie... took him, I guess, right before the last war started. I don't know what happened to him, but I guess he's dead by now, too." Momoko looked shyly up at Viento again, hoping for a bit of reassurance or better yet, a change of topic. Instead, he looked a bit... nervous?

"Probably, yeah," he said, his face coloring a bit as he quickly looked out the window again, "I mean, he probably did it just to spite you, so he would've killed him right afterwards. Absolutely. There's definitely no chance he'd be alive now."

Momoko stared at Viento curiously. He hadn't had that reaction to her talk of Yanagiba-senpai. Why was he being so quick to declare that Yousuke had to be dead? It suddenly occurred to Momoko that she had probably been right before - he was jealous! That had to be it!

"You're awful sure of that," Momoko said, one corner of her mouth tugging upwards, "What, are you afraid of what would happen if he found out I was here? I bet he'd storm the school and rescue me." While it was definitely true that she wouldn't put it past him to try, Momoko didn't really believe anything she was saying. It was just fun to pester Viento. However, when she glanced over her shoulder to see how irritated he was getting, she was surprised to find that he was smirking again. Maybe she'd miscalculated him?

"Oh, please, P-chan," he said, sounding vaguely amused, "If he had any sense at all, he'd leave you here and go find a girlfriend with a better figure." Momoko stared at him in shock for a second before her cheeks puffed out in an angry scowl.

"There's nothing wrong with..." Momoko began, stopping short as she realized what he'd said, "Wait, P-chan? Why are you calling me P-chan?" Viento looked entirely too satisfied with himself.

"Because it's easier than calling you Peach all the time," he said simply, "And I felt like giving you a nickname. You got a problem with that?" It was almost as if he was daring her to challenge him. Momoko really didn't care; she didn't want to be called something irritating all the time.

"Yes, I have a problem with it!" she said, turning away with her chin out, "It's not my name, and it sounds like something you'd call a dog or a cat."

"But you _are_ kinda like my pet now, you know," Viento said. The suggestion made her bristle. Momoko couldn't see him, but she just knew he was wearing that aggravating grin again.

"I am not your pet," she said stiffly, banging a pot down into the stack for emphasis. The suspicion that he'd been treating her like one had hung over her all day. To hear him admit that it was what he thought was really too much to bear.

"Well, would you rather have me treat you like a slave?" Momoko froze for a second as she thought. What was he getting at? Was this some kind of trick?

"If it means you won't call me that stupid name, then yes," she finally answered. As soon as she had, though, she realized that it was probably the wrong thing to say.

"Well, in that case," Viento said, audibly sitting up from where he had been leaning against the wall. Momoko felt the air move behind her back and looked down to see his arms wrapping around her waist from behind. "That's three," he said, gently tightening his grip. In another second, the odd sensation of flying quickly through the air rushed over her and she found herself sitting in Viento's lap on the countertop.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Momoko squealed, her voice sounding much more fearful than she'd meant it to, "Put me down, you pervert!" As she began squirming and kicking the air violently, Viento's grip around her waist only tightened.

"If I put you down, you'll fall to the floor," he said firmly, sounding as though he was on the edge of losing his temper, "Now, settle down." That was definitely a command, but Momoko didn't care; she kept kicking and struggling. A second later, however, she was startled into silence as Viento pushed her to lay face-down across his lap.

"Viento-sama!" she yelled, beating the countertop with her fists as she resumed kicking, "Stop it! This isn't funny anymore!" Momoko tried to turn to look up at him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that he didn't look like he was playing this time.

"I'm not laughing," he said sternly, causing Momoko to pause, "Since you're acting like a little kid, I'm going to treat you like one." Momoko caught a glimpse of Viento raising the arm furthest from her face, directly over her up-turned rump. Her mouth opened in surprise; he was planning on spanking her?! Momoko squirmed, her arms reflexively going behind her back to shield her bottom. The motion made the wounds sting again, but that didn't matter; there was no way she was going to let him touch her rear end!

"Please, stop!" Momoko pleaded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "I'll do whatever you tell me, okay? You can call me whatever you want!" Momoko felt a warm hand wrap around both her wrists at once, drawing her arms up and pinning them neatly in the middle of her back.

"We already know that," Viento said evenly, "But that's still three strikes. I was only going to give you twenty, but if you keep struggling I'll make it thirty. Now. Stay still. I don't want to slip and hit your back." Momoko tried to make herself as still as possible as she closed her eyes and braced herself for the first strike. She still couldn't help sniffling as she cried, or keep her knees and hands from shaking a bit.

When the first strike landed, she bit back an exclamation. She did notice, thankfully, that it really didn't hurt much; as a matter of fact, after the second or third swat, it stopped stinging and began to simply tingle a little. Whether it was because he was only hitting her lightly or because she was merely getting used to the sensation, Momoko couldn't tell. By the tenth strike, however, it was apparent that his goal wasn't to hurt her so much as it was to humiliate her. And by the twentieth...

Viento descended from the counter, supporting Momoko's weight as she sank to the floor. He gently placed her in one of the open areas of floor, holding her steady as her legs crumpled beneath her. Her chest was still heaving, her breath heavy from crying and something else she couldn't quite name. Her eyes were still puffy and her face red, the tears having already stopped. Instead, she stared wide-eyed out into the kitchen, trying to find her bearings.

Worst of all, though, she could still feel the heat from his hand on her behind. She rested her weight on her feet and lower legs, digging her heels into her soft bottom to try and stifle the pleasant sensation the spanking had left her with. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, was it? When Pluie had hit her, it had hurt, left marks, and caused her to bleed. Being spanked stung a bit at first, but she had quickly been overcome by something else, something that made her feel guilty for some reason.

Pressing her knees tightly together, Momoko looked down. She knew she was blushing and wanted to avoid Viento's gaze at all costs. Worse, there was something about the way she was sitting that forced her to shift uncomfortably, some odd feeling where she'd been spanked. It didn't hurt, but there was something else that she didn't want to acknowledge. It felt dangerous to her.

Jama-P floated slowly over, eventually coming to rest in her arms. She saw the worry on his face. Had she looked up at Viento, however, she'd have seen something different. She'd have seen a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. At the moment, though, she was more worried about what was happening within her.

What if she'd actually enjoyed that?


End file.
